The Friday the Thirteenth Realization
by 123justafan
Summary: Just a little Friday the Thirteenth fun for Penny and Leonard.
1. Chapter 1

**All things Considered...**

 **Just a little Friday the thirteenth fun for Penny and Leonard. I don't own them and wouldn't want to challenge whatever forces are out there on this day by claiming anything to do with them.**

Leonard didn't give much thought to what day or date it was. He never really did. One day usually ran along in a tedious continuum from one day to the next with the usual two day break after a five day work week to spend time doing other interests like kite flying or paintball. His days were carefully planned in neat seven day parcels, not by himself or even by his choice really. The totality of his life seemed to be dictated by his roommate Sheldon held in place by an agreed upon, signed and dated Roommate Agreement. It may have a bit of morbid neutrality to it but in reality there was never much outside excitement that would make bucking the Sheldonian system worth the effort. The major input into their two person functioning unit, complete with survival kit in case of disaster was from two friends Leonard had forced into their lives in the persons of Howard Wolowitz and Rajesh Koothrappali, two co-workers at Cal Tech University.

* * *

This morning happened to be a Friday and the fact that this day had fallen in the thirteenth day of the month was not of particular worry or anticipation. Science was science after all and as Sheldon often put it. "Superstition was nothing more than Hokem".

* * *

The day started out benign enough, the drive to work was to be filled with one of Sheldon's driving games that had to deal with the periodic table of the elements. Upon getting to the car, Leonard got settled in the driver's seat and went to adjust his driver's side mirror. Something had happened and the mirror was just not set right. When the electronic switch did not adjust the mirror, Leonard lowered the window and tapped on the mirror hoping that it would then work. Unfortunately, instead of repositioning the mirror, once tapped on, the mirror fell to the ground and broke. Sheldon immediately stepped back from the car voicing his displeasure of riding in a car that was for all intents and purposes, "aptly blind to traffic in what was commonly called the blind spot". With more effort than he thought appropriate, Leonard convinced Sheldon to "Get in the DAMNED car!"

The day progressed at a pitiful pace. Leonard's new laser experiment would not work due to misaligned equipment that wouldn't calibrate properly and then he was called into the chairman's office to discuss why he had gone over the dollar limit of the last grant he had worked on.

* * *

On the way home, the two roommates had decided to stop at the Sperm Bank and make a deposit in the Genius Category. The extra cash would come in handy for the upcoming new comic book night next Wednesday. There were some graphic novels that were set to come in. Approaching and entering the Sperm Bank however was more perilous than what could be normally be expected. Just in front of the door, there was a ladder scaffolding with two workers installing a new sign for the office. Sheldon was reticent to enter under such conditions and did so only at the request of his roommate. Leonard had to go under the ladder and hold open the door standing clearly under the ladder so Sheldon could, with all haste, enter the clinic as quickly as possible. Going over to the reception desk, Leonard noticed the clinic Nurse deeply engrossed in a crossword puzzle. When she didn't seem to notice that he and Sheldon were there, Leonard leaned over and pointed out some of the answers.

All things considered, the operations of the Sperm Bank Clinic seemed to be going as a male donor might expect. Leonard was assigned a room, given a cup and told that there were some videos and reading materials located in the room if he need them. Leonard appropriately blushed, gave a weak smile and proceeded to enter the room. It was at that point that things seemed to go to HELL. While not a novice to the process, he had never actually officially made and official deposit. Looking about, Leonard leafed through some of the reading materials and then looked to a small shelf that had some VHS tapes. One tape caught his eye. It was what appeared to be a movie from the Sci Fi/Horror genre. It was titled Serial Apist. There was a very small picture of what appeared to be a young blonde girl that seemed to be wet from being in a shower and screaming. Leonard saw a card tapped to the back with some scribbling on it. "Hot Blonde" along with what appeared to be some numbers that he assumed were time stamps. Feeling a little apprehensive, Leonard put the VHS tape into the player and pressed the Fast Forward button. It took little time for the VHS player to grind slower to a stop. No picture could be seen on the television. Leonard then opened the door to the player to retrieve the tape and a large ribbon came out clearly stuck in the player mechanism. Not wanting to embarrass himself further, Leonard stuffed the tape back in and sighed looking back at the stack of magazines. A knock came at the door and he heard Sheldon from the other side. Leonard opened the door and quickly voiced his opinion that the wanted to leave. Sheldon agreed and the tow roommates made their way back to the car and drove off to their apartment. On the way home Leonard stopped off at their favorite Indian Restaurant for some takeout food. LEonard parked the car and let Sheldon wait in the car as he got the food.

* * *

Upon parking their car and stepping up to the front door of their apartment building, just as Leonard stepped to reach for the door, a black cat jumped out in front of him from the bushes carrying what appeared to be it's dinner in his mouth. Leonard stopped short and was run into from the rear by Sheldon which launched Leonard face first into the front door, knocking his glasses askew and scratching the side of his face. He was sure that he would have a black and blue eye by the next morning.

Entering the building, they walked up the stairs with Leonard listening to Sheldon prattle on about how he made his father trip on the stairs of their house by increasing the height of one of the steps by only two centimeters. When they approached the last set of stairs to their apartment 4A, they could hear some country music playing from a radio station with the soft accompaniment of a somewhat off key but gentle voice. As they crested the last step, Leonard caught the sight of a young Blond woman standing in front of a pile of boxes wearing a light blue t-shirt with a reddish pink floral pattern with short blue jeans shorts and a pair of Uggs. She seemed to notice them and smiled as she closed the door to her apartment 4B.

* * *

Sheldon opened the door to their apartment and proceeded to put a Star Wars CD into their player before sitting in his usual spot on the couch. When Leonard served the Indian food, Sheldon opened his dish and quickly berated Leonard for either ordering the wrong food, or not checking the order before leaving the restaurant. Quickly understanding that he was not going to be able to reason with Sheldon, Leonard resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to go get the right food.

Slowly walking down the stairs, Leonard opened the front door and stepped onto a discarded banana peel easily losing his balance. The last thing he could remember was falling to the ground and hitting his head on the concrete.

* * *

When Leonard opened his eyes, he could hardly believe what he was seeing. A very pretty blonde woman was looking down at him with a concerned look on her face. all he could hear was a very soft voice. "Are you okay?"

All things considered, Leonard thought his luck might be turning around.

 **AN: What do you think? Is it a dream? or are things starting to go Leonard's way?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Friday the thirteenth indeed...**

 **Penny helps Leonard get "UP". I don't own them. I like to writ stories about them, but they are just that. My imagination running amok.**

Leonard looked up and saw the most beautiful green eyes he could ever imagine. They looked so concerned, caring, helpful and comforting. Penny knelt down next to the man on the ground. "Sweetie, are you okay?"

Leonard couldn't seem to find the words. He had never seen such a beautiful woman before. He tried to sit up. "I'm fine..." He tried to lift himself with one hand and fell back down.

Penny gasped slightly as she put one hand behind his head and another behind his shoulder. "Are you sure? That was quite a fall you took there." She helped Leonard sit up and then moved in front of him and held out her hand for him to grab hold of. "Let me help ya".

Leonard got to his feet and then wobbled a few steps before he felt two arms come around him from the side. Penny softly spoke to him. "I think you should sit down her on the bench". Leonard nodded and sat with a thump. Penny sat beside him. "Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should see a Doctor."

Leonard was all nervous sitting next to this beautiful woman that was actually helping him and not pointing and staring. "Actually, I am a Doctor".

Penny smiled. "Really? well then you probably know if you are okay".

Leonard realized what he had said. "Not THAT kind though. I'm not a Doctor, Doctor." Penny looked absolutely confused and Leonard suddenly felt embarrassed for misleading her . "I'm a PhD Doctor... of Physics. I'm sorry for misleading you. Maybe I'm not so okay after all."

Penny rubbed his back. She could see that he was having a little trouble breathing. "That's okay. You probably just need to sit here and catch your breath." Suddenly she thought of just a little while before. "You look familiar. Have we met?"

Leonard knew from the instant he opened his eyes that the woman looking down at him was his new neighbor. It had only been a mere few seconds that he had seen her before she had closed her door when he had gotten to the top of the stairs, but the image of her standing there was burned into his brain. "Actually, we have. Not really, Just for a very short time. But, no."

Penny scrunched her nose a bit and cocked her head. "What?" She wasn't sure what it was about this man. He was short and didn't weigh very much, but seemed very sweet. He had the most beautiful brown eyes and slightly wavy hair. He was stammering and was clearly not comfortable talking. But in a really shy cute way.

Leonard sighed knowing right away he was ruining this conversation. "We saw each other in the hallway, between apartments 4A and 4B. Well, I saw YOU anyway. Before you closed your door. You were singing to some country music. and unpacking some boxes."

Penny smiled. "OOooohh, I just move into 4B. It's my first apartment living alone in LA."

Leonard nodded. "Pasadena actually." There it was again. that look in her eyes. "I'm Leonard. Leonard Hofstadter. I live in apartment 4A. We're neighbors."

Penny smiled widely. "Well, its nice to meet you Leonard Leonard Hofstadter. I'm Penny". She held out her hand.

Leonard looked down and took it in his. "Not Leonard Leonard Hofstadter, Its Leonard Lea... Never mind. Just Leonard. Leonard will be fine".

Penny giggled. "I'm just messin witcha! That's why you look familiar. You were with a really tall guy."

Leonard smiled. "That's my roommate Sheldon". He immediately saw a look of understanding on Penny's face. "NOT like ROOMmate roommates... we live in tow separate heterosexual... rooms, across the hall, form you. And he's not THAT tall, he just looks like he is, you know, standing next to me and all."

Penny perked up. "That's cool, we should have coffee sometime."

Leonard smiled wider. "I would really like that. Actually, I was just going out to get some Indian food for dinner if you would like to join us".

Penny frowned. "Join US?"

Leonard was nervous. "I didn't mean anything except eating. We stopped to get some food earlier and I got the wrong thing for Sheldon and now I have to go fix his order. And then I slipped."

Penny laughed. "Yeah, that was hysterical." Seeing the embarrassed look on Leonard's face, Penny frowned. "I mean it was terrible, people shouldn't just throw things away like that." There was a short uncomfortable silence. "Why doesn't he get his own food"?

Leonard looked off into space. "That's a question I have been asking myself for a few years now. Anyway, do you like Indian food?"

Penny shrugged. "I like most any food, especially if I don't have to cook and its cheap. I was going to just grab something at the Quicky Mart cause I'm kinda gross from unpacking and all."

Leonard looked down. "Sure I understand. Maybe some other time."

Penny could see that Leonard was upset. "Hey, I would love to have dinner with you. But I have to get cleaned up first. Come up to my apartment and wait for me to take a quick shower and then we can go get you're roommate his food okay?"

Leonard could hardly believe what he was hearing. A beautiful woman not only accepted an invitation to have dinner with him, she invited him up to her apartment. "Uhhhmmm, sure."

Penny stood and just as she was helping Leonard, that same Black Cat from earlier rushed in front of her. "DAMMIT!"

Leonard watched as the cat jumped into the bushes. "What is it?"

Penny put a finger to her mouth and started to chew on her fingernail. "Didn't you see? It was a cat. a BLACK cat. And its Friday the THIRTEENTH!"

Leonard smiled. "It's nothing, Like Sheldon says, Hokem".

Penny sighed not wanting to let on that she really didn't like stuff like this. Superstitions were definitely NOT hokem! Neither were psychics and ghosts. She held the door open for Leonard as the two then climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. All Leonard could think of was that Sheldon would open their door as he and Penny came up the stairs just to ruin everything. Thankfully, that didn't happen and Penny closed the door to her apartment as Leonard looked around for a place to sit. Penny sighed. This was no way to make a first impression on her new cute neighbor. Penny scrunched her eyebrows as Leonard looked the other way. What was she thinking? Sure he was cute, but she shouldn't be thinking of him that way. She just got out of a lying cheating relationship with Kurt. She needed to take a break from being with a guy. Leonard bent over moving some things from her sofa and Penny got a better look at his tushie. Oh, My, God. Leonard had a cute ass. Penny shook her head. Enough already, she needed to get into the shower, and probably turn down the temperature a bit. She was letting things get a little steamy in her head.

Penny exhaled. "Okay, I'm gonna take a quick shower. You make yourself comfortable." She could see that Leonard was a bit confused as to what to do or where to sit. "Sorry about the mess, but it IS my first day. Just push things over and I'll be right back." Penny then walked quickly into what looked to Leonard like a bedroom and closed the door. Penny flopped onto her bed and ran her hands through her hair. She couldn't believe herself. She quickly stood and rummaged through a pile of clothes on her bed for a top and a skirt. She took them into the bathroom and literally peeled off her t-shirt. Sure she was sticky form unpacking, but the new sweat she was experiencing had nothing to do with her unpacking boxes. It had more to do with what Leonard might be "packing". THAT's IT!. Penny needed to get into the shower. She pulled back the shower curtain and tried to start the shower. She could get the water to run, but she couldn't start her shower. A bath wasn't about to do any good and her shower wasn't working.

Everything was going wrong for her. It must be that damned cat. Penny wrapped herself in a towel and went out into her living room. "Leonard? I can't get my shower to work. Could you help me?"

Leonard was actually picking up things in Penny's apartment that seemed to be strewn willy-nilly about when he turned to her voice. He immediately dropped what was in his hands. Penny was standing by her bedroom door, her hair pulled back into a quick ponytail, clutching a towel closed with her hand just above her breasts. the towel showed off just that much more of Penny's long legs than he had seen in her shorts. He could also see that she had a beautiful neck and smooth shoulders with toned arms. Leonard quickly felt a tightening in his pants that he hoped Penny did not notice.


	3. Chapter 3

**Getting a better look**

 **Things start to progress with this meeting of neighbors. Just a wishful meeting that popped into my head about these characters that I do not own.**

Leonard was thankful that he was still holding a jacket he had picked up in front of his crotch. He took a few quick steps and thankfully got things situated and more comfortable as he placed the jacket back on the colorful chair he found it. "I'll try, but I don't know how good this will come out". He then followed Penny through her bedroom on the way to her bathroom easily noticing the pile of what appeared to be bras and panties on top of the dresser.

Penny turned to let Leonard by and noticed that his attention was taken up elsewhere. She knew that she should be embarrassed, but was actually amused by his interest. She also knew that those pieces of underwear were some of her best and sexy ones and she was suddenly not sorry they were left out.

Leonard saw the slight smile on Penny's face as he turned and immediately blushed. "L..Let me see if I can get it going." Suddenly, his attention was now focused on the decidedly naked woman wearing nothing but a bath towel. Taking a deep breath, Leonard did his best to clear his mind. He thought he might have an easier time of it if he took off his jacket and hoodie.

Penny watched Leonard and smiled at the sight of his arms. He clearly wasn't like the guys she was usually drawn to. He wasn't tall, he didn't have huge muscles, although his arms proved he was no weakling. He didn't seem to have pecs and abs, but she couldn't actually say that because he still had his shirt on. And he did have that cute ass she was now staring at as he bent over. Penny leaned over Leonard's back to see what he was doing and placed both hands on his butt to steady herself as he reached for the faucet diverter.

As Leonard wiggled and rattled the diverter stem, he felt Penny's hands on his behind. When he felt the slightest squeeze, he stood up quickly.

It was at this point that things really seemed to go awry. As he stood straight up, pulling the stem free, Penny stepped back quickly loosening her towel. As it fell to the floor, her eyes went wide and she pushed Leonard into the now falling water.

Penny was now quite naked scrambling to cover herself with her arms and hands. "Don't you LOOK! Don't you turn AROUND!"

Leonard had fallen forward. Now bracing himself against the far wall with both hands as the shower pelted down on his back. "What?!"

Penny quickly grabbed for her towel. "I don't want you to see me NAKED!" She wrapped in the towel and helped Leonard stand up. "Don't look".

Leonard squeezed his eyes shut as Penny steadied him as he stood up. He felt Penny turn him and then heard a giggle. "What?" He then opened his eyes, first one then the other. Leonard could see that Penny clearly had found her towel and it was firmly in place. He let out the breath he was holding, not knowing if it was because she was covered or disappointed that she was.

Penny saw that Leonard had taken quick notice eyeing her up and down. She thought it was sweet that he immediately blushed and looked away. "Sweetie, you're soaking wet." Penny opened the linen cabinet and pulled out a towel. "Take off that shirt and dry with this."

Leonard reached for the towel and then tried to figure how he was going to do this. Penny could see he was concentrating on something way too long. She thought she knew what the problem was. "Are you shy"?

Leonard's eyes widened just a bit. "No." In reality, he wasn't actually shy, but he was sure if he took off his shirt he wouldn't be anything like the guys Penny probably dated. Unfortunately, he couldn't just stand there, so he took off his shirt.

Penny found herself just gazing at Leonard as he pulled his shirt over his head. His biceps were everything she expected. Not as big as some of the guys she dated, but not altogether bad at all. They led to shoulders that were not bad either being nicely toned. She had the urge to run her hands over them. When Leonard put his arms down and took the towel, Penny then saw why Leonard seemed so hesitant. While not altogether terrible, there was no defined six pack she was accustomed to. Still, she thought he looked so cute standing there reaching for the towel. Cute enough ro want to give him a hug. Penny reached forward and wrapped him in the towel and pulled him in, both hugging and drying him.

As it happened, Leonard's and Penny's hips were close together. When Leonard turned his slightly away, Penny could think of only one reason he would do that. It was now her turn to blush. She let Leonard take the towel as she stepped back. "Umm, okay, I better take that shower. I'll be right out."

Leonard took the towel and turned for the bathroom door. "Good... I'll be out here." He then closed the bathroom door and found himself back in Penny's bedroom staring at the pile of underwear on her dresser. Shaking his head, he quickly made his way out to the living room realizing that he had left his shirt in the bathroom.

Penny climbed into the shower realizing that there was certainly something about her new neighbor that was appealing to her. She barely knew him and yet he had an affect on her. It was like she was back in High School. That same feeling she would get when she did little else in class except plot when and where she could meet up with the cutest boy in her class. She noticed that as she had these thoughts, her hands roamed across her soaped up slick body to her most sensitive areas. Penny quickly grabbed for the cold water handle and increased it enough to make her rush through her shower.

Climbing out of the shower, Penny dried and pulled her hair into a simple ponytail. She stopped as she put on the top and skirt she had picked out earlier. There was no bra to put on, the top had spaghetti straps. Looking into the mirror, she looked at herself and noticed she looked happy. It had in fact been the happiest she had looked since she moved out of Kurt's. Penny briefly thought of changing, but then decided she really didn't want to. She looked good in that top. Passing into her bedroom, she did have to pick out a pair of panties. She put on a short skirt and was certain going "commando" was NOT an option. Rummaging through the pile on her dresser, she giggled at one particular pair and quickly slipped them on.

Leonard sat quietly on the couch waiting for Penny with the towel draped across his shoulders. When he looked over, Penny stepped out of her bedroom wearing a yellow top with a cream color skirt with a floral pattern and a pair of pink flip flops. His jaw was slightly slack as she walked his way. "You, you look amazing. Very springy"

Penny smiled at his comment. "Thank you." She did a small twirl. Penny saw that Leonard had run the towel through his hair. It was much wavier than she had noticed earlier. Very nice. She also noticed he was naked from the waist up. "You need a shirt. I think I have one for you". Penny turned and went over to a box in the corner pulling out a Nebraska Cornhusker t-shirt and handing it to Leonard. When he put it on, Penny broke out in a laugh. "Oh Sweetie, I think it might be a bit too big".

Leonard looked down at himself with his arms out. "Do you THINK?!" The shirt hung down to just above his knees, the sleeves down to his elbows.

Penny cocked her head and scrunched her nose. "Hmmm well, I do use it for a night shirt. It's my Dad's. He's kinda tall. Maybe I have something else you can wear."

Leonard held up his hand. "I live across the hall. I can get another of my actual shirts".

Penny smiled and followed Leonard out of her apartment and across the hall to 4A. Opening the door was something Leonard would normally have reconsidered if he wasn't preoccupied wit thoughts of his beautiful neighbor.

Sheldon was sitting in his spot and looked up as Leonard entered the apartment. "Well well well. Look who it is. I can't imagine what could have taken you so long to get back from Mumbai Palace." Just then, Penny followed Leonard into the apartment. Sheldon dismissively waved his hand. "I stand corrected."

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Sheldon, this is Penny. She is our new neighbor."


	4. Chapter 4

**Getting to know him**

 **Penny meets Leonard's roommate and his friends. What other surprises are in store for these two people that seem to be drawn together on this fateful thirteenth day of the month? Love em, but don't own em.**

Sheldon sighed. "It is just like you Leonard, to go out to Mumbai Palace in order to rectify your previous ordering error and then to come home with, with this veritable hand full of beans".

Penny was confused "HEY!" She turned to Leonard. "What is he talking about?"

Leonard sighed. "He's saying that, like Jack and the beanstalk, instead of going to town wanting to sell a cow because it wouldn't give anymore milk, or in this case, me getting him food, I came back with magic beans... Not that you are magic beans, or any beans at all, but, ugh, hang on." He then turned to his roommate. "Sheldon, about the Indian food, I never made it there, at least not yet. I sort of fell outside the building after I slipped on a banana peel and Penny helped me up. And then she needed to take a shower and..."

Sheldon spied his roommate. "So it was during this alleged shower that you seem to have become wet and lost your clothes?"

Leonard looked down at himself still wearing the Nebraska t-shirt. "Well, maybe, um NO, okay... yes. Look, I just need to change into a new t-shirt and then we will go get your food."

Sheldon waved a dismissive hand. "No need, when you took so long getting back that it seemed you might have actually gone to India for the food, I called Howard. He and Raj are coming over here and we are going out to the comic book store after we stop off for a proper Indian meal."

Leonard was both excited to go to the comic book store and aprehensive that Penny would be meeting Howard, Raj and possibly decidedly not want to go to the comic book store. "Cool, I'll get a new shirt and we can all go." Penny stood by frowning slightly.

Sheldon waved his hand. "Not possible. We have made plans for a party of three not an unruly mob of five. You know all too well they have booths of four".

Leonard did not back down. The last thing he wanted was to realize the real possibility of Sheldon sending Penny back to her apartment and ending this first meeting ruining any possibility of having any kind of a relationship with her. "Hold on, we could have two tables pushed together. They have tables."

Penny could see that she was causing a problem between her two neighbors. "Fellas, I don't wanna be a problem. I could just get something from the mini-mart." Leonard looked sick at the words he just heard.

At that moment the door opened and two new characters came in. One was a short skinny guy with a Beatles haircut wearing a turtle neck shirt and a pair of the tightest pants she had ever seen on anyone. The other guy was clearly foreign, if she had to guess she would say Indian.

The foreign looking guy walked in without looking and started to excitedly talk. "Its fantastic, unbelievable. You have to see thiiieeeeee". The words coming out of his mouth twisted into an almost imperceptable screech suddenly causing him to go mute. Penny's eyes widened with the sound, her eyebrows stopping in a surprised questioning position.

The smaller skinnier guy walked in bumping into his friend. "Its a video of Hawking giving a lecture in 1974 at MIT before he... umph! HEY!" He then noticed that there was an unexpected guest in the apartment. "Enchante madammoisel?" Penny was now more confused. The foreign looking guy basically squeaked and the American looking guy was speaking another language.

Leonard could see things were going terribly wrong. "Penny, these are our friends Howard and Raj."

Howard quickly walked around Raj and bowed putting out one hand toward the beautiful blonde woman. "Howard Wolowitz, Cal-Tech department of Applied Physics. You may be familiar with some of my work. It's currently orbiting Jupiter's largest moon taking high-resolution photographs?" Penny looked wide eyed at the small man as he seemed to be reaching for her hand to kiss it. Raj stood close by just smiling and waving. She turned and looked mildly horrified toward Leonard almost pleading for help.

Leonard stepped in and took Penny's arm. "Save it for your blog Howard." He then brought Penny to the breakfast table where she sat on a stool. He looked at Raj and Howard. "Penny is our new neighbor. She lives right across the hall".

Sheldon stood from his spot. "Yes, well this is all very interesting for you all I'm sure. Howard, we must be going".

Howard looked between Penny and Sheldon. "What? WHY?"

Sheldon sighed. "We have to get to the comic book store after we stop for proper Indian food." Raj scrunched his nose in a distasteful fashion.

Howard smiled slyly at Penny. "Why don't we all go"?

Sheldon shook his head. "What is WRONG with all of you. We have made plans for THREE not FIVE. You seem to be forgetting that there is limited seating other than four person booths that up until now". He then looked accusingly at Penny. "We have had NO need to alter".

Leonard tried once again. "They have tables."

Sheldon looked at Raj. "I assume you have made reservations for three?" Raj shrugged his shoulders and nodded. Sheldon then looked at Howard. "There, we must be going, the three of us."

Howard looked heartbroken. "But?"

Sheldon snapped his fingers. "Howard, NOW!" He then looked at Raj. "You TOO!"

Penny watched as what she assumed were three friends leave the apartment and close the door after them. Leonard sighed deeply as she turned to look at him. "Sorry about that".

Penny giggled. "What'er ya gonna do?"

Leonard shrugged. "So those are my friends. Would you like some water or something before I get a t-shirt?"

Penny waved off the offer. "I'm good." She looked around. "So this is your apartment huh? It's way bigger than mine".

Leonard smiled. "Well, it IS a two bedroom. They're down the hall past the bathroom over there. Mine is the one at the end." As Penny raised one eyebrow, Leonard suddenly felt his temperature raise. "Not that you should care where my bedroom is, I mean you never have been here before and there is no reason to go there, or even WANT to go there. Maybe some water isn't such a bad idea after all". Leonard quickly went to the refrigerator to take out a bottle of water and took a long swallow.

Penny thought Leonard was just adorable being all embarassed. "Maybe a water would be good". Leonard quickly handed Penny a bottle of water. She took as sip noticing that there was an awkward silence descending upon them. The last thing she wanted was for things to start to get wierd. Although things would have to get pretty bad to out do what she just lived through. "So, what are we gonna do now? I mean, you don't have to get Sheldon his food now that he is out with your other friends."

Leonard wasn't sure what to do or what to say. He WAS sure that he didn't want the evening to end. "Well, we could still get something to eat, if you are still hungry that is."

Penny easily picked up on Leonard's nervousness in asking her to dinner. "I could eat".

Leonard could hardly believe his luck. "We don't have to get Indian, do you like Italian?"

Penny smiled. "I love Italian. There's a nice place down on Colorado Boulevard, why don't you get a quick shower, maybe wash the rest of that product out of your hair." She had seen how wavy Leonard's hair might be when he dried his hair after the mishap in her shower and she liked it.

Leonard was planning on just putting on a new shirt. Penny's suggestion to shower came out of nowhere. "Ummm, sure I can do that." He then went to his room to get some new clothes and made his way to the bathroom.

Penny sat in the living room and looked around. She was sort of surprised by what she saw. There was a pretty big flat panel TV with at least three different gamming systems set up. Obviously this was important to them. Two desks were set up on either side of the TV, each with a laptop computer. Penny wondered which was Leonard's. The desk closest to the kitchen was impeccably neat. Neat to a point of excess. Even the pencils next to the small stack of notebooks were perfectly positioned in size order from smallest to largest. There were a set of colored markers set up in the color order of the rainbow. It almost looked too neat. Penny looked over to the other desk closer to the door and saw many of the same things. Notebooks, pencils and markers, but these were just put in a cup holder with pictures of Superman around it. As a matter of fact, there were assorted little figures of super hero's not only on the desks, but also strewn about the shelves of the apartment. As she looked around, she also noted that the posters on the walls seemed to all have science fiction themes to them.

Penny noticed that across the back of the chair of the computer desk by the door was a shoulder bag that she vaguely remembered over Leonard's shoulder when she first saw him before she closed her door. "That must be his desk". She was actually slightly relieved. It seemed much more a normal desk even though she would have thought it belonged to a teenager rather than a full grown man. Batman, Superman, some Green guy holding a light of some kind seemed to be all around. She noticed that what she originally thought were magazines on the coffee table were in fact comic books. Her new neighbors seemed to be very different from any other guys she associated with.

Penny's curiosity was now at a high point. She saw lots of books on a book shelf behind the couch and went to see what they were all about. Frowning, she realized they looked like they were all from a library. Not any library she would ever go to, they seemed to be all sciency. These books looked like they were very technical. She heard the door to the bathroom open and Leonard go toward where she suspected his bedroom was. Penny quickly put the book on some type of Physics back on the shelf and sat in the big soft chair next to the couch. It was really comfy, and big enough to bring her feet up next to her which she did after kicking off her flip flops. It was probably big enough to snuggle close to someone in. Someone like Leonard.

A sound from the hallway startled Penny out of her thoughts. She turned her head to see Leonard coming down the hallway in a green t-shirt with some type of robot on it. "Oh sweetie don't you have something else to wear?"

Leonard stopped dead in his tracks looking down at himself. "What's wrong with this?"

Penny turned in the chair. "Nothing is wrong with the sneakers and jeans, but the t-shirt? To Dinner? with me looking like this?" Penny stood up and did a small turn on one foot bringing the other up to her knee flaring her skirt just a little.

Leonard stood perfectly still watching as he saw her top twist and come back down on her perfect breasts and saw again what beautiful legs Penny had. "M...maybe you're right. But I really don't have much else to wear."

Penny smiled "Aw c'mon. You must have other things. Let's go see!" She then grabbed Leonard's hand and took him back to where she suspected his bedroom was. Penny looked quickly around the room. More posters of space stuff and more toy figures. Leonard had the strangest looking thing on his night stand that she figured was and alarm clock or something. But as a whole, a pretty nice room. Neat, kind of subdued in a boy kind of way. No pictures of any family were around which seemed a little strange. Penny immediately went to Leonard's dresser and opened the top drawer to find socks and what appeared to be an array of brightly colored boxer shorts. some camouflage but more themed with super hero's. She quickly closed the drawer seeing Leonard sitting on his bed with his head in his hands out of the corner of her eyes. She remarked. "Okay... I guess we're even on the exposed underwear". Opening the second drawer, Penny found piles of neatly folded t-shirts of varying colors, each with printed images on them. Recycling symbols, something that looked like a chart she vaguely remembered from High School and some with other science things.

Leonard sighed heavily. "Told you".

Penny turned and saw a closet. "You must have something in here". Leonard almost jumped to stop her but was far too late and just sat back down on his bed with his hands between his knees.

Penny started to flip through the hangers. She pulled out something that resembled a babies onsie. "What is THIS?"

Leonard stood and took it from her hand. "That's a flight suit from Battlestar Galactica, the original series". Seeing the look on Penny's face, Leonard placed it back in the closet.

Penny pulled out a shirt that was pull over and had gold piping around the sleeve cuffs. "And this?"

Leonard sighed once again. "Star Trek Captain's uniform".

Penny had a questioning look on her face. "How many do you have?"

Leonard once again took the shirt from her placing it back in the closet. "Just two. Every day and dress".

Penny took out a light blue button down Oxford shirt and a sport coat. "OH!, this is nice." She turned to Leonard. "Here, try this on". She saw that Leonard just stood with the shirt in his hand. "Sweetie, just put it on. Don't be shy." Leonard took his t-shirt off and Penny smiled once again. There they were. His bare arms and shoulders and that chest that just seemed to be a little more buff that it was no more than an hour before. She nibbled just a bit on her lower lip as Leonard put the shirt on. She stepped closer as he started to button up the shirt and took over finishing the task for him. Penny then placed both hands on his chest. She wasn't sure why she did that. She just seemed to have an urge to just feel what she was looking at. She smoothed his collar, ran her hands over his shoulders and down his arms and then patted his chest smiling widely. "There, much better." She looked down at how the shirt hung outside his pants. "I'll let you tuck that in. Let's go, I'm starving!"

Leonard quickly tucked his shirt into his jeans, grabbed the sport coat and followed Penny out into the living room where he saw her slip on her flip flops and toss her purse over her shoulder. Going down to the lobby, Leonard held open the door as Penny smiled. She waited for him to come out. Leonard reached into his pocket for his keys. "I'll get my car".

Penny cocked her head a little looking at Leonard dressed in jeans with the sport coat over the oxford shirt. She thought to herself. "Very nicely put together". He stood with his hipster glasses perched on the bridge of his nose barely hiding the warmest brown eyes she could remember and his soft wavy hair with slight curls in the back. She smiled sweetly. "Why don't we just walk, It's not that far". Penny then reached out and she looped her arm through his as they started to walk down Colorado Boulevard carefully intertwining their fingers as she held his arm with her other hand. She thought to herself again. "Yup, very nice indeed."

Leonard looked down and smiled. He couldn't believe what was happening. Penny was stunning in the outfit she was wearing and she just took his arm to walk down the street. There would be no question that she was actually with him. He just wanted to pinch himself. Things never happened like this to him. Not in his world.


	5. Chapter 5

**Was this supposed to be a date?**

 **Penny and Leonard have some thoughts as to what is starting to happen, but it is Friday the thirteenth and as some omens have a special effect on that day, things do not exactly go as planned. Oh, I don't own any Big Bang Characters, I'm just putting them in different situations.**

The walk to the restaurant was fairly quiet. Leonard was at a loss of what to talk about and Penny was trying to process what had happened over the last couple of hours.

Leonard had been out with other women, he was not the social misfit his roommate Sheldon was and he could actually talk to women. He was however not as forward as Howard would be with anyone of the opposite sex. Leonard was just nervous around women. Without over psychoanalyzing himself too much, he never was able to please his mother and his older sister always seemed to be more occupied with getting away from the family that trying to be supportive. Professional relationships with female scientists were never a real issue. He had been a co-worker with Leslie Winkle for a while and even considered her a friend in a small way, maybe even more than just a friend. But with Penny, he seemed to have all his thoughts jumbled up. he suddenly wanted to be more than he was. More like someone he thought she would be with. She was gorgeous! Her eyes were an enchanting shade of green and her hair was like a shower of pure gold cascading over her shoulders. He may have had a crush on a girl or two in High School, but never really pursued them probably because he was usually trying to get away from being stuffed into a locker. Lets face it he could actually squeeze through a hole in a fence half his size. Now that he actually spoke to Penny and got her to go to dinner with him, he didn't have the slightest idea what they would talk about. What could they possibly have in common?

Penny felt comfortable walking arm in arm with her new neighbor. She wasn't really sure why though. Leonard surely wasn't like any of the guys she dated in High School and almost the polar opposite of the lying cheating bastard Kurt that she just broke up with. Leonard was barely her own height, she was actually happy she threw on a pair of flip flops instead of a proper pair of shoes. She could easily see into his beautiful brown eyes without looking up when she actually got him to look at her instead of the ground or the sky. Well, he really DID look at her just not directly in the eye. She caught him staring at her when she was looking somewhere else only to make him blush just a bit when he was caught looking her up and down. It wasn't the first time she had ever been gawked at, in fact it happened most all the time. Guys basically had one thing on their minds and she knew just what that was. And if truth be told, she liked the same thing just as much. With Leonard though, it was different. He didn't seem to be pressing her for what was usually at the end of her night when she hooked up with a new guy. Not that this was a hook up. This was just having dinner with her new neighbor. Meeting him wasn't at all like meeting the other guys she went out with. "DAMMIT! she wasn't GOING OUT with him. This was just a dinner!" Penny kept mixing this up in her head. Meeting Leonard was not something she was expecting. She wasn't at a Club, or out with some of her girlfriends or even being hit on at work. She literally practically TRIPPED over him at the front door to her apartment building, well it was technically THEIR apartment building. Then she met his friends. His roommate didn't even act like a friend. The other two were a trip, one was more than a little creepy and the other one was hard to figure out. he literally wouldn't say a word. Everything was happening a little fast, even for her. Penny sighed slightly and held Leonard's hand just a bit tighter as they walked to the restaurant.

As they passed the park that was down the street, Penny looked up at a small group of birds. "Are those Crows?"

Leonard looked up and shaded his eyes with his hand. "Actually, I think they're Ravens. The body is not as bulky and the wings are longer are more tapered. They are larger, possessing a heavier beak, shaggy throat hackles, and a wedge-shaped tail. Its wing tips are long and fingered, and in flight, they soar and dance, flapping their wings far less."

Penny looked both surprised and confused at what she was listening to. "What?"

Leonard suddenly thought he was actually scaring Penny. "Yup... Crows!"

Penny smiled. "We have bunches of them back home. They even have culling parties when there are too many of them. They pay you two bucks a piece. You line em up in your sight and BLAM! dinner." She looked over at Leonard and saw that his eyebrows seemed to be trying to join together. They looked weird, but in a cute way. "What? They taste like Chicken".

Leonard was a bit skeptical. "Chicken? Really?"

Penny giggled. "Well, the dark meat of the chicken."

One of the birds swooped down toward Leonard making him duck down and almost trip as he caught the toe of his sneaker in a crack in the sidewalk. Penny caught him while still holding onto his arm. "Careful there Leonard, we don't need you falling over again". Once again Penny held Leonard's arm and felt the tensed muscle of his bicep, it made her smile just a little.

They came to the restaurant and Leonard asked for a table for two, there was a pretty good sized crowd. Luckily, there was a table for two off to the side.

Leonard quickly stepped behind Penny's chair and pulled it out for her. She smiled. "Oooh, such a gentlemen." Leonard immediately turned the most adorable shade of pink and then sat in his chair looking up to see a smiling Penny. "Thank you Sweetie, that was so nice".

Leonard could feel himself starting to sweat. He needed to ge the attention off himself somehow. "So Penny, you probably know too much about me, you know, with meeting Howard, Raj and Sheldon and all. What about you"

Penny sat straighter in her chair. This was her chance to impress Leonard. She knew she obviously couldn't rely on her educational background. Leonard was some kind of friggin genius and she didn't even get out of Community College. THAT was something she was definitely going to keep as a secret. "Ahem, well, lets see. I come from Nebraska, and I'm a Sagittarius, which probably tells you way more than you need to know." She then gave Leonard a quick wink and smile as she took a sip of wine peering over the rim as she drank.

Leonard didn't actual know anything about ANY of the Zodiac signs, but Penny seemed to be hinting at something. "Hmm, Sagittarius wouldn't have been my I first guess."

Penny shrugged, "Yeah, a lot of people think I'm a water sign." Leonard seemed calmer so Penny continued. "Let's see. what else. Oh, I'm a vegetarian, except for fish, and the occasional steak. I LOVE steak."

Leonard smiled at Penny's enthusiasm. "What do you do? Like for a job".

Penny thought. This was her chance to impress Leonard. She couldn't match his smarts so she had to pull out all the stops. "I'm an actress!"

Leonard's eyes widened. "WOW, really?" Leonard was now floored. Not only was Penny beautiful. She was probably famous. He clearly had no real chance with her. "What have you been in? You've met Sheldon, we don't get out much and watch mostly sci-fi on TV."

Penny saw a little sudden apprehension in Leonard. "Actually, I'm currently in a long running production of The Cheesecake Factory".

Leonard was nervous now. she was an accomplished actress in a long running production. Probably some afternoon Soap Opera. Thankfully, he could hide his ignorance because he was working at that time. "That's impressive. I think I've heard of that".

Penny giggled and reached for Leonard's hand. "Sweetie, I'm a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory. The restaurant?"

Leonard was immediately horrified. He just made a complete fool of himself. "Oh sure." He was now completely mortified, and now as mute as Raj.

Penny felt bad that she sort of set Leonard up. But the smile he had for that short time was precious. She wanted to get that smile back. "I'm also writing a screenplay. It's about a sensitive girl from Lincoln Nebraska that moves to LA to be an actress and winds up waitressing at the Cheesecake Factory".

Leonard looked up. "So it's based on your life."

Penny put her hand to her chest. "No, I'm from Omaha."

Leonard looked confused and then smiled. "Well if that were a movie, I would go see it."

Penny brought that smile back to Leonard's face. God he was cute when he smiled! "I know right? Well that's about it. That's the story of Penny."

So what about your work? What's new?"

Leonard looked confused. "Nothing."

Penny looked was quizzical. "Nothing? Really?"

Leonard shrugged. "Well, with the exception of string theory, nothing much has happened since the 1930's, and you can't prove string theory, at best you can say, hey look, my idea has an internal logical consistency".

Penny nodded. "I'm sure things will pick up."

Leonard felt things getting uncomfortable again."What's new at work for you?

Penny couldn't think of any way to make working at the Cheesecake Factory sound exciting. "Oh, not much. We do have a chocolate key lime that's movin pretty well."

Things were not getting better. Leonard needed to do something that would prove he was worth being with. Hey, do you want to see something cool?" Penny nodded smiling. "I can make this olive go into this glass without touching it."

Penny sat up. "How?"

Leonard now had Penny's attention. "Physics!" He put the glass over the olive sitting on the table, twirling the olive and picking up the glass with the olive spinning around inside.

Penny smiled. "Wow, centrifugal force."

Leonard smiled wider. Penny smiled with him. She really did live that smile of his. Leonard had her full attention. "Actually, its centripetal force, an inward force generated by the glass working on the olive." The olive suddenly flew out of the glass onto the floor. "Excuse me". Leonard went under the table to get the olive.

The waiter came with the drinks they had ordered earlier. As the waiter placed Leonard's drink down, Leonard stood up, knocking over the drink, spilling it on his lap. He could see the horrified look on Penny's face and a few people at other tables staring. Leonard quickly took his napkin and went off to the bathroom. "I'll be right back, please don't leave."

Penny wasn't sure why Leonard would have said that. Why would he think she would leave? "Sure Sweetie". She turned back to the waiter who was cleaning up the spill. "He'll be right back." The waiter went to get Leonard another drink.

Leonard stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom. "You are SUCH an idiot! Now what am I supposed to do?" An idea came to him and he pulled out his phone and typed Sagittarius into the search engine.

Back at the table, Penny sat alone. She was looking around. All the other diners went back to eating their food. Suddenly, a chair came up to the table next to her, she looked up and couldn't believe what was happening. She watched as her ex, Kurt, lifted his leg over the back of the chair and sat down.

Kurt smiled. "Hey Babe, Since when can afford a place like this?"

Leonard was reading from his phone the different traits of Sagittarians. He read down to the sexual tendencies and raised his eyebrows thinking back to the look Penny had given him. "Since she is very passionate and erotic, she will enjoy cuddling and foreplay. Remember Sagittarius women are adventurous and will not think twice about experimenting, so don't be shy, go ahead and try out your wildest fantasies with her." Leonard just looked back at the mirror, how was he supposed to do ANY of that? After lasting through the embarrassment of watching other men stare at him while he tried to dry his pants by standing under an electric hand dryer, he knew he couldn't keep Penny waiting any longer.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Leonard saw Penny standing in front of a much taller and muscular man bent slightly at the waist with one hand perched firmly on her hip as the other was poking him in the chest with one finger that looked like a steel rod using increasing force with each word.

As he got closer to the table he could see people were staring, but it was what she was saying that was getting the most attention. "You have GOT to be kidding me! Why in HELL would I EVER go out with a LYING cheating BASTARD like you ever AGAIN?"

Kurt stood smiling seemingly oblivious to the smaller woman in front of him. "C'mon Babe, you gotta admit we were pretty good together. And we could get TOGETHER again, if you get my drift. I've missed you. You can really get it on. We don't even have to wait til we get back to my place if you don't want to."

Penny's jaw dropped. "What, do you have some slut waiting in the car? Is she not good enough to get you off? Or do YOU need some help with HER!"

Kurt was now a little annoyed. I don't need any help okay? You never complained. And maybe if you were better, I wouldn't need another girl. You were a lousy lay anyway! And look at you now, Out on Friday night and all alone."

More and more heads were turning from the other diners. Penny was beginning to come unhinged. "You are such a DICK! And not in any way a girl might want you to be. HALF the time we did it I had to finish what you started on my own... QUICKDRAW!" Penny then saw Leonard coming back from the bathroom. She reached out and pulled him closer. "And I am NOT alone. I'm here with Leonard and he's TWICE the man YOU ever were!" Penny then pulled Leonard in for a deep hard kiss. When they broke the kiss, Penny looked up at Kurt. "Get your sorry ass out of my face!"

Kurt looked at Leonard and lifted the shorter man off the floor with almost no effort at all. "THIS is what you've got to for a date?" He then looked down and noticed Leonard's still damp crotch. "Maybe you aren't so bad after all, it looks like this little elf couldn't hold his load!"

Leonard hit the floor with a thud as Kurt turned and started to walk away. "Elves are tall worriers, you probably meant dwarf."

Kurt had just about enough. He turned and balled his fists and took quickening steps toward Leonard. Judging his speed and distance, Leonard stepped slightly to the side and ducked as he reached for Kurt's wrist and stuck out his foot. Kurt tripped, turned and fell into a service station sending napkins and silverware and dishes flying as he crashed to the floor.

The manager showed up with as many of the male staff as he could find. He turned to Kurt who was now being held down by some patrons. "Sir, you need to calm down. The police will be here shortly." He then turned to Penny and Leonard. "Would you like to make a statement to the police?"

Penny looked from the manager to Kurt and back. "No, there were plenty of witnesses. I just want to leave. Thank you." She then turned to Leonard. "Sweetie, can we just leave please"?

Leonard smiled. "Sure, sure". He then turned and put a couple of twenty dollar bills on the table and turned to the manager. "I hope this will cover some of the damages".

When they got outside the restaurant Leonard turned to Penny. "Was this supposed to be a date?" Penny took his hand and smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

**If it looks like a Date, and it sounds like a Date and feels like a date...**

 **Penny and Leonard talk it through and think there might be something special. I don't own them, but I wish i did, just a little.**

Leonard thought it best to just keep quiet after Penny hesitated to answer.

The walk back to their apartment building was far quicker and much quieter than their leisurely walk to the restaurant. Penny had her arms crossed with her hands firmly tucked under. Even though they were approximately the same height, Leonard had a hard time keeping up with the pace Penny had set. She was clearly upset by what had happened after she got into that argument with that big guy. Leonard didn't know the whole story at all but Penny was a different person. On the way over she had been so friendly and she kept the conversation going when he clearly couldn't, she was even a bit flirty while sitting at the table. But now, when he asked her one question, she looked blankly back at him like she couldn't believe what he had asked her, turned and then walked briskly back to the apartment building.

Penny was livid, she was hoping to have a nice dinner with her new neighbor. Leonard was a real nice guy. A little on the shy side, a bit tongue tied for such a smart guy. He rattled off all that stuff about Crows or whatever birds they were, who would know stuff like that, and then that olive trick was pretty amazing. He completely changed when he was talking about stuff he knew about. He seemed excited to share what he knew and that smile of his when he finished. It was SO cute! Then friggin Kurt had to show up and ruin everything until Leonard put him down. What kind of a surprise THAT was!

Then Leonard wanted to know if this was supposed to be a date? Was it supposed to be a date? It certainly didn't start out that way, it did have the uncomfortable quiet pauses of one though. Their whole meeting was awkward, like a roller coaster. First she literally tripped over him outside the front door of the building and then she brought him up to her apartment where she practically pulled him into her shower with her. She couldn't deny there was some kind of attraction. She even put on one of her "come take me" outfits, a really cute top, no bra, thong panty with a skirt. Then she went to meet his roommate and friends. That ordeal was as uncomfortable as it would have been meeting his family for the first time. Then she saw him naked, sure it was just the waist up, but still. And what about being nosy enough to find his underwear and rifle through his closet. Who does that when you just meet someone?! Things were going so well. Then that steroid fueled cheating bag of crap of an ex boyfriend showed up. And THEN... the question. Was this a date? The last few hours felt like an entire train wreck. Maybe it wasn't a date, maybe it was or at least could be.

* * *

They got to their apartment building and Penny turned to Leonard. She could see that he had fallen behind. She sat on the bench outside the door and waited for him to catch up and sit down next to her. She watched as Leonard reached into his right front pants pocket and pulled out a small plastic and silver thing putting it to his mouth squeezing it and inhaling. "Are you okay?"

Leonard took a deep halting breath. "I'm fine, just a little asthma that's all." He took another breath and looked into Penny's eyes that that looked like they were worried. "Really, I'll be fine".

Penny watched as Leonard caught his breath. He looked so sweet. "Do you like Mexican food?"

What?, Why? I mean sure, its not something on the normal rotation of acceptable options, not that there are really any options, more like a set list of cuisine from previously approved restaurants in preordained order."

Penny's eyes went wide and the look on her face was pure confusion which masked the urge she had to giggle at the way he rambled on. "You have a rotation?"

Leonard sighed. "No, no, not me, Sheldon. Howard, Raj and I just follow what the Sheldonian calendar dictates. Believe me its just easier."

Penny patted Leonard's knee. "You poor little man. So, Mexican?"

Leonard could feel something when Penny's hand came to rest on his knee. Maybe it was nothing more than pity, maybe something else. "Are you sure?"

Penny smiled. "Sweetie, I'm sitting here in this really cute outfit, you clean up very nicely yourself, we already decided to go to dinner, my idiot ex screwed up our meal and now I'm getting hungry. I know a really nice place."

Leonard smiled at the realization that Penny still wanted to have dinner with him. "Where is there a Mexican restaurant around here?"

Penny stood up. "Not around here. Its in Santa Monica, by the pier. Its only about thirty miles."

Leonard cocked his head. "Thirty miles but more like an hour drive".

Penny held out her hand "Aw c'mon, it'll be fun. There's the pier, and the beach. Pleeeese!"

Leonard couldn't deny this request even if he wanted to. Penny was absolutely precious. She twisted her hips while holding both his hands making her skirt flair just a bit and bouncing on her perfectly polished toes in a pair of sequined flip flops while adding the perfect little whine and a smile. "Okay, sure, I'll drive."

Penny smiled widely as she pulled Leonard to his feet. "Thanks! I call radio!" If she knew which car was his, she would have run to it.

Leonard shook his head in disbelief and lead her to his car, opening her door so she could get in.

Penny was pleased again. None if her previous boyfriends. WAIT! What was THAT all about. Leonard wasn't her boyfriend! None of the guys she was ever with treated her like he did. She was arm candy for most of them. Sure they would both have fun later, and maybe that's why she put up with them, but none of them made her feel like Leonard did. He made her feel like she was special.

* * *

Leonard pulled into traffic as Penny shed her flip flops and put her feet up on the dashboard after turning the radio on to a country station, wiggling her toes to the beat of the tune. After a few songs, Penny turned to look at Leonard as he concentrated on the road his hands perfectly placed at ten and two on the steering wheel, driving not one mile over the speed limit. "I'm really sorry about Kurt back there. You probably heard way more than you should have and for sure more than I would have wanted you to. I'm so embarrassed."

Leonard didn't really know how to answer. He really did get some kind of an idea of what Penny was like in her recent past. "No, its okay, I didn't really hear too much."

Penny rolled her eyes. For sure Leonard heard things. His answer just showed some more just how different of a guy he was not wanting to make things uncomfortable for her. "Right, so you didn't hear that it was okay if I didn't want to wait til we got back to his place to have sex, or that we did it plenty of times, in plenty of places, or that I might be up for a threesome, or I never complained about having sex with him?"

This day was getting more and more like no day Leonard had lived in his life. This was Alternate Universe kind of stuff. Sure he heard those things, they were not exactly quiet, Pretty much everyone had stopped eating and was staring at the two of them. A beautiful little girl taking on a hulking brute, and if he was telling the truth, all of what he was saying confirmed what Leonard had read on the internet about Sagittarians. "What I heard was that he was extremely disrespectful to a beautiful woman and quite frankly, it sounded like he plainly just used you or wanted to use you for nothing more than his pleasure."

Penny was pretty much floored by Leonard's answer. What was she supposed to say to that? He was really a gentleman and very very sweet. "Well, just so you know, not all of that was true". She could have said it wasn't all a lie, but how could she tell him she liked sex as much as Kurt did. Heck, they averaged two to three times a day when they were not fighting or when she started to suspect he was cheating on her. And she DID get a charge out of being creative in where they did it. All that information would probably scare a guy like Leonard away.

Leonard turned slightly to look at Penny, being mindful not to totally look away from the road. "So, if I might be so forward to ask, what happened? He actually looks like the type of guy you SHOULD be going out with".

Penny turned. "What's THAT supposed to mean?! The only kind of guy I'm supposed to be with has to be some muscle bound empty headed steroid infused lying cheating BASTARD?"

Leonard picked up pretty quickly that Penny was mad. There was absolutely no doubt. "No, of course not. You're smart, funny, caring, beautiful... but you have to admit you did make a good looking couple."

Penny sighed. "I guess we did. But look at US... you and me. You're not half bad yourself".

Leonard didn't exactly know how to take that. Was he half the man Kurt was? A sound argument could actually be made for that point. Kurt was HUGE. But Leonard could never imagine himself with someone like Penny. She was perfect. "Well you have to admit that if you asked a thousand people who they would think you would pick to be with, it would be pretty much unanimous that you would pick someone like Kurt over someone like me."

Penny gasped slightly. She turned more toward Leonard, thinking about all the guys she went with. To each and everyone of them, Leonard was right. She always went out with the tallest, buff-est guy. Guys that had great bodies, and hair, great clothes and had a car that they could get away in. People like Leonard were the people she used to laugh at when someone like Kurt stuffed them into a locker. It suddenly made her feel a little sick and a LOT guilty. "Well I'm here with YOU now and you need to stop putting yourself down. You are really good looking, WAY more than cute. but getting back to your question, Kurt cheated on me. I had been sort of suspecting something was going on. He spent more and more later nights at the gym, if that was actually where he was. He used to be a bouncer at one of the local bars for some extra cash and he said he needed a little extra workout. He was probably lying about the gym, but not the workout. The funny thing was it really didn't mean that much to me, until I came home early from work when it was a slow shift and I had an early audition the next day." Penny turned away looking out of the side window. It still hurt and she didn't want Leonard see her cry. "I came into the apartment and hard some rustling in the bedroom. I didn't think much of it actually until I opened the door and walked in on them. Kurt was DOING her right there against a wall, her legs wrapped around his waist. The bed was all messed up so this wasn't probably their first time that night. He was really into it and didn't hear me come in. SHE saw me though and just smiled over his shoulder as she took it. It was one of our... HIS favorite ways." Boy! that was more than Leonard needed to know.

Leonard didn't know what to say when Penny stopped talking. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. What did you do?"

Penny shrugged. "He kept a baseball he caught at a Dodgers Game on the dresser by the door. I picked it up and nailed him in the back of the head. Nailed him good. He dropped her flat on her ass. Pulling out must have been a bit rough, he grabbed his crotch and groaned. When he turned around, he looked mad as hell. When he saw it was me he knew he was in trouble. He stepped closer, which in hindsight was a bad decision on his part cause I kicked him square in the nuts. He hit the ground as quick as the slut he was nailing. I left the apartment and went to a friend's place from work, Kim. I went back and got all my stuff when he was at work. I haven't seen him since, until tonight. I'm really sorry you saw that. Like I said It didn't really mean that much. I was probably more mad at myself for not ending it first. It's always easier being the dumper than the dumpee."

Leonard took his hand off the steering wheel and placed it on Penny's thigh. "While I agree about the dumpee comment, it was probably rough and no one deserves to walk in on something like that".

Penny tried to lift the moment. "At least I know I still have an arm. My Dad and I used to play catch all the time and he wouldn't let me grow up throwing a ball like a girl". She really needed to get off this topic. "How about you, are you seeing anyone?"

Leonard actually giggled. "Me? Really?"

Penny frowned. "What's so funny? You're cute, funny, sweet. There are probably plenty of girls out there that are flirting with you. You probably just don't know it".

Leonard chuckled. "Yeah, they're all over the place just waiting to tear my clothes off".

Penny shook her head at the words he just said, although, right about now, she would actually be one of those girls, and she NEVER fawned after guys, EVER! "You know, you really should stop putting yourself down. If you haven't noticed, I'M here with you and WE are going out to dinner TOGETHER."

Leonard looked over briefly. "I'm sorry, you're right. its just that those things never happen to me. And to answer your question, no I am not seeing anyone. The last girl I went out with actually left the country after our first night. At this point, Science is my lady."

Penny frowned slightly. There was no way someone like Leonard should be hiding away in some stuffy old lab somewhere. He seemed to have so much to share, and from what she saw, it wasn't just his smarts. "There ya go again Leonard". Penny put her hand just above his knee and tenderly rubbed it up his thigh. "Science may be exciting and all, at least for you, but you can't take science to bed. You need to get yourself out there more."

Leonard blushed, there it was again, Penny seemed to be flirting with him. Thankfully, by this time, they were in Santa Monica. "So where is this Mexican place"?

Leonard's question pulled Penny from her decidedly non-scientific thoughts. "What? Oh, its actually ON the pier. Its at the end so you can see the ocean, they have really great food and KILLER margaritas."

* * *

Leonard parked the car and they walked quietly to the Pier. Leonard was again becoming apprehensive until Penny intertwined their fingers and leaned in to give him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you for bringing me here. I love it here."

Leonard smiled the smile Penny had come to love in the short time they had known each other. They walked to the end of the Pier and stood in front of the door to the Mariasol Cucina Mexicana Restaurant.

Penny looked down and noticed a shiny new penny on the walk. "Oooooh, look! Find a penny and pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck! My Grammy always said that when she found a penny. My brother used to put them around the house just to mess with her. She never missed a one."

Leonard thought the story was really cute, he wished he could share things like that with Penny, but his childhood just didn't have times like that in it.

As they walked in, Penny easily noticed a crowd waiting. This was going to put a damper on the evening and she was getting hungry. She looked around and noticed the guy at the host's station was staring at all the young women. Penny also noticed a single woman standing alone probably waiting for someone or looking to hook up. She turned to Leonard. "Sweetie, why don't you go to the bar and get some drinks, I'll have a Mega Mango, Margarita." Leonard went to the bar as Penny turned and went over to the single woman and struck up a conversation making sure she kept the Host station in her sight.

Leonard went to the bar and as usual, seemed to be ignored. He picked up a cocktail menu to look at the options.

Penny easily struck up a conversation with the woman, Sheila, and they laughed easily about how they could pick up any guy they wanted. Penny thought it would be interesting to put their skills on a wager. Each could pick out a guy for the other. Penny watched the Host staring at them and gave him a flirting grin. He easily returned a wink and nod. Penny excused herself and went up to the Host's station.

Sheila looked around at the crowd and saw an extremely awkward looking shortish guy. She smiled. He looked perfect. If Penny tried something with this guy, he would probably faint.

Penny went to the Host's station and noticed the name tag worn by the young guy read Steve. She went up and could easily see that his eyes were concentrating somewhere below her neck. Penny put on a smile. "Hi Steve, would it be possible that you might have a table for me and a friend?" She touched his hand and motioned over to Sheila who was looking in their direction smiling at Penny.

Steve now made the connection to another hot woman. "I'll see what I can do."

Penny smiled finally getting Steve's attention off her chest. "Thanks Sweetie". She winked and patted his hand. "I'm Penny. I'll be right over there". She then pointed to Sheila and went to go over to her. Steve was more than happy with himself and looked at the book in front of him. scratching out a name.

When Penny went over to Sheila, she found her new friend with a huge grin. She immediately knew something was up. Sheila pointed to the bar smiling and grinning far too widely. "I've got just the guy for you." She then pointed to a short bespectacled guy in a blue blazer that looked like he was having difficulty getting the attention of the bartender.

Penny's eyes widened. "Seriously? That guy?" Sheila was clearly impressed with herself. Penny rolled her eyes. "Fine!" She then looked around at the crowd. She needed to find someone that would make Sheila happy and not feel used. It wasn't long before Penny picked out the perfect guy. "Okay, THAT guy over there!" She pointed to a tall dark haired very tanned muscular guy that was very well put together. He was also being attacked by every single female at the bar.

Sheila smirked. "You're on!" She licked her lips and smiled.

Leonard finally had some luck at the bar and was paying for the drinks. Sheila and Penny were still standing together when Steve called out. "Penny, party of two?" He then walked in the direction of the two women smiling. Penny and Sheila broke apart and Sheila went to the bar to try her hand at picking up the guy Penny had picked out.

Steve walked up to Penny with a wide smile just as Leonard came back from the bar. "Penny, your table is ready."

Penny turned as she felt a nudge on her shoulder. It was Leonard with the drinks. She smiled. "Sweetie, our table is ready, I told you it wouldn't be a long wait." She gave Leonard a quick kiss on the cheek. She also saw that Sheila had caught sight of her as she took Leonard's hand and followed Steve to a nice table for two. She shrugged and smiled back.

Steve brought them to their table and looked at Penny in disbelief. Penny looked up as Steve gave the couple their menus. "Steve, this is my friend Leonard."

Leonard wasn't sure if there was something going on, but he felt better when Steve seemed so disappointed that Penny wasn't alone and that Penny had given him that kiss. They settled into looking at their menus when Leonard realized this is further than they had gotten in their meal earlier this evening. He looked up at Penny. "We're not going to be interrupted by Kurt are we"?

Penny looked over her menu. "Hardly, Kurt never liked Mexican food." She then put her menu down and looked at Leonard. "That was amazing what you did to him. How did he not actually hurt you?"

Leonard put his menu down. "Physics! Kurt is a big guy. Compared to me, he clearly had mass and momentum. From Newtons first law we know that an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. In that case, my foot acted as the unbalanced force, changed his direction slightly and his balance. His momentum and mass kept him going and down he went." He was clearly proud of himself.

There it was again. Whenever Leonard talked about sciency stuff, he was so different, so confident. His voice was calm, he was in control. There was a special glimmer in his eyes. He came across SO sexy. To Penny, it was just unbelievable that Leonard stood up to Kurt like that. "You were amazing."

Leonard shrugged and looked back shyly. "Getting out of there was really the more amazing thing, it brought us here. You sitting here with me".

It was Penny's turn to blush and look away shyly while smiling. Their dinner was light and fun, starting with freshly made guacamole. Penny had Vegetable Enchiladas while Leonard tried the Tres Amigos Fajitas, which Penny occasionally picked at for the steak and shrimp. They watched the sun set and had more Margaritas along with some shots of Patron. Penny taught Leonard how to drink them correctly... salt, shot, lime.

* * *

By the time the dinner had ended, both Leonard and Penny had gotten quite giddy. To the point that other diners had started to look. Leonard, being more in tune to what others might think, insisted on paying the bill. Penny compromised and put down a generous tip.

When they left the restaurant, they passed the bar and Penny saw that Sheila actually made her conquest. She was sitting very close to her man with his hand high on her thigh. Sheila saw Penny and smiled while mouthing "Thank You". Once outside the restaurant, Penny ran to the pier railing and took a deep breath taking in the salt air. "Oh, I just love it here! Look at all the stars. It's almost like back home."

Leonard did his best to not stagger too much as he came up beside her. "It is pretty special, looking out into the empty ocean."

Penny turned and suddenly held tight to Leonard's arm. "Lets go down to the beach. Can we Pleeease?"

The thought of being down on the beach, normally it would be something he would try to decline. But Leonard couldn't deny Penny when he was sober, in his current state he was helpless. "Okay".

* * *

Penny brought them to the base of the pier she looked at Leonard and then around and found secluded place. "C'mere..." Leonard frowned not knowing what was going to happen. Penny waved him over. "C'mon, c'mon, over here. We need to put your jacket by my flip flops, you don't want to get it wet, I wanna go down to the water."

Leonard was extremely skeptical but joined her. Penny smiled and kicked off her flip flops immediately burying her feet in the sand. Leonard followed suit, removing his sneakers and socks, placing them next to her flip flops and rolling up the legs of his jeans then did as Penny did digging his feet into the sand.

Penny turned to Leonard and took the jacket off his shoulders and placed it over a pier support. She then turned and unbuttoned a couple of buttons of his shirt and placed both hands on his chest after rolling up his sleeves looking directly into his eyes. Smiling, Penny reached up and took off Leonard's glasses and leaned in to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Leonard's hands went to Penny's waist. As the kiss deepened, his hands moved up to where he felt no bra. Carefully exploring the soft flesh of the sides of Penny's breasts through her shirt made her moan slightly. Leonard quickly returned his hands to her hips. Penny could sense apprehension and pulled him closer pressing her chest tightly to his while again deepening their kiss. Leonard's hands now moved down. He was definitely surprised by what he felt... nothing but the cloth of her skirt between his hands and her firm bottom. He gasped as she smiled into the kiss. "Penny, you're not wearing any..."

Penny smiled and giggled. "Its a thong silly! Do you like it?" She then put his glasses back on and turned, running down to the shore.

Leonard focused as quickly as he could, watching Penny run to the surf. He tried to clear his head from watching a gorgeous woman run from his grasp. He realized that it was dark and they had been drinking. She could easily fall in and... "PENNY. WAIT!" He ran as best he could after her.

* * *

Penny was standing ankle deep in the surf facing directly out into the ocean waiting. When Leonard came up from behind, she leaned back into his hold. "I'm fine, walk with me?"

Leonard took her hand in his as they walked down the beach, Penny deeper into the ocean. They were both thinking as they walked, slightly deeper into the water as they continued down the beach.

They were about mid-calf into the surf when Penny turned and took Leonard's other hand. "You asked earlier tonight if this was supposed to be a date." What she thought was in Leonard's eyes was a mix of hope and anxiety. She smiled sweetly. "I would have to say... that at first, when we went to that Italian restaurant, my answer would have been no." Penny immediately saw hurt in Leonard's face. She put a hand to his cheek. "Sweetie, I'm not done... After all that stuff with Kurt and then coming here and having such a great time, I would have to say that it wasn't supposed to be a date but it certainly turned into one. And a pretty fantastic one at that. So... YES, I would say this in s a date." Penny then bit on her lower lip and looked down slightly as she once again twisted her hips.

Leonard's eyes were as wide and his smile was when he pulled Penny in for a hug. Unfortunately, just as he was going to kiss her, a wave came and knocked the two of them down into the surf.

Penny screeched as they fell and rolled into the water. When they came up onto the beach, the water went back and they were in a tight embrace. It was a miracle, but Leonard had kept his glasses. Penny laughed as she positioned them properly on his nose. she then brushed the wet hair away from his face. Leonard then kissed her as they lay back down.

When the water came back, Leonard stood up and helped Penny stand. Even in the limited light he could see that Penny was soaking wet. The meager clothing she had on clung tightly to her. The fact she had no bra on and was wearing a thong panty left very little to the imagination. Penny suddenly felt ashamed. She had often used her looks to get the guy she was after. She even used them tonight to get their table at Mariasol. But now all she wanted to do was hide herself from him.

Leonard took Penny into his arms. "Hey, it's okay alright? Let's get back to the pier."

* * *

When they got back to where their things were, Penny turned and threw her hands around his neck. Her kiss was soft at first. Leonard let his hands roam about her back down to her bottom. Penny turned in his grasp both gasping for a breath. Leonard's hands moved to her breasts. Penny inhaled at the feel of Leonard's hands on her breasts and now excited and peaked nipples. She ground her hips back into his crotch. It was Leonard's turn to moan. He reached down to lift Penny's skirt. They lowered themselves to the ground. All of a sudden, Leonard could just think of what he read on the internet and here he was with Penny, in the sand. Was this really going to happen?

Suddenly, there was a sound from nearby. Somebody was coming.

Leonard stood quickly. He reached down and lifted Penny up. He smiled. "Find a Penny, pick her up, all the day you'll have good luck!" Penny chuckled as Leonard put his jacket around her shoulders. They were both wet, but Leonard wasn't about to let anyone see Penny that way.

They heard someone yelling. "Hey there! What are you doing there?!"

 **A/N: A little longer than usual, I just couldn't really break it up**


	7. Chapter 7

**What are we gonna do now?**

 **Leonard and Penny need to figure out where to take things now that they have been on an actual date. You would think that after all these years Lorre and Prady would let the rest of us have a little piece of these characters. Sadly, that is not the case.**

Penny and Leonard grabbed their shoes and ran up the beach. Leonard needed to stop once to take a puff from his inhaler. Penny stood over him rubbing his back. "Sweetie, are you sure you'll be okay?"

Leonard was bent over at the waist with his hands on his knees. He took some breaths, each one deeper than the first. "Whew... I'll be fine. I think the alcohol is still having an affect." What he didn't say was that what they had just almost done was also having an affect.

Penny looked around the beach. It didn't look like they were being chased or followed. "That's okay, I can drive home."

Leonard stood straight up. "Actually, considering you had more to drink than I did, that probably isn't such a good idea."

Penny rubbed Leonard's shoulder. "I'd be fine, the roads are like four lanes wide! And its like an hour drive. I'll be good by the time we get home."

Leonard laughed. "Yeah, but you can't really use all of them at the same time, and the traffic is way worse here than in Pasadena. I think we should just find a place to stay here tonight. There must be a hotel somewhere near. We can get a couple of rooms". Leonard didn't want to make it look like he was trying to push things along too fast, he just went on his first date with this beautiful woman and was hoping that there might be another one or even more than that.

Penny thought. "Actually the Lowes Santa Monica is just up the beach a bit, but it's upscale and might be pricey."

* * *

Leonard followed Penny to the Hotel. The evening ocean breeze picked up and dried their clothes just enough that you could no longer see through Penny's skirt like she was at a wet t-shirt contest gone wrong. Penny ran her hands through Leonard's hair to style it just a bit. She was thinking of how soft and wavy it was before they were hit by that wave. As she looked at him she smiled, he could make this look work just as well. Weathered Beach Bum looked good on him, maybe a little stubble...

Penny brought herself out of her thoughts and took Leonard's hand and they walked to the Hotel. She grasped his hand a little tighter as they reached the reservations desk, this was really a nice place. The clerk was looking to see if there were any vacancies. This was a popular hotel at a popular location and it was a Friday night. "I'm sorry Mr. Hofstadter, we have only one room available.

Penny could see that there were other patrons in the lobby that were starting to stare at the young couple. They were surely not typical. She was young and beautiful wearing his sports coat over far less than formal attire. He was young and no more than average, in either height or looks, especially when compared to her and paying for a room. She was not liking the feeling of being judged. Penny looked at the clerk. "We'll take it. Oh. um, do you have a laundry service? We could use it."

The clerk was no less judgemental than the others, he looked at their somewhat disheveled appearance. "Yes miss, we do. Just call for room service and they will pick up. You should have the clothes by 9:00 AM. CHECKOUT is at 11:00."

Leonard could now see the looks Penny was getting from the other guests and the attitude from the clerk. He didn't appreciate them one bit. He handed the clerk his credit card. "Oh, and that is DOCTOR Hofstadter, thank you." They were given two pass cards for the room and told where the elevators were.

* * *

Once in the elevator, Penny leaned into Leonard's shoulder. The experience in the lobby enforced what she was thinking in the back of her head since she saw all those smart books back in his apartment. She had no business being with someone like Leonard. It must have looked like he picked her up walking the street. She squeezed Leonard's hand a bit tighter.

Leonard felt Penny press into him. He had an idea why. "I'm so sorry."

Penny sighed. "You have nothing to be sorry for. They weren't staring at you. They weren't judging you. It isn't your fault."

* * *

They got to their room and Penny went over to the window and looked out with her arms wrapped around herself. Leonard went to the closet and pulled out two thick white plush cloth robes. He walked over to Penny and handed her one. "We better get out of our clothes if we want to get them washed and dried."

Penny took off Leonard's sport coat and handed it to him. "I'm so sorry about this, it's probably ruined".

Leonard shrugged. "It did the job that I needed it to. I wasn't about to let you go walking around soaking wet and looking like, I mean with your, umm, with you showing..."

Penny stopped Leonard from talking by putting a finger to his lips. As he was rambling on, she had looked down at herself. It was sure that her top and skirt had dried some, but the effect of the cool ocean breeze and now the air conditioned room air showed her what Leonard was trying to say. Her skirt was marginally better and his jacket helped there too. "Yeah, the looks from all those people in the lobby would have been a lot worse without it, although I'm not sure their opinion of me would have been any worse."

Leonard was stuck for words. "Penny, it wasn't like that."

Penny took the robe and patted Leonard on the cheek as she went to the bathroom. "You're sweet for thinking that." Penny closed the door and leaned on the vanity looking at herself in the mirror. Why was she so bothered by the way they were looking at her. Normally she wouldn't care at all. Most times she would flaunt what she had. And if she was honest, she wore the clothes she had on just to impress Leonard, she was not at all shy or modest. She took off her top and skirt looking back at herself in the mirror. There she was standing in just her thong. She laughed to herself as she stepped out of it. "Boy is someone going to get a kick out of this when they do the laundry."

* * *

Leonard took this time to remove his clothes and find a courtesy bag to put them in. He put on the plush robe and looked around the room. There was a king sized bed with a sitting area that looked like it might have a pull out sofa. He checked it out and confirmed that it indeed was. Leonard was glad for that, it would make sleeping a little less awkward. Pulling back the curtains revealed that they had been given one of the Ocean Front View rooms. The thoughts of how much this room would cost didn't even cross his mind. Even with what went wrong at the beginning of the evening back in Pasadena, and all the little starts and stops, this was clearly the best night of his life. Leonard stepped onto the balcony and noticed there were privacy dividers between the different rooms. He turned and looked out onto the ocean.

* * *

Penny readjusted her ponytail and put on the plush robe. It felt so soft against her skin. This was a beautiful Hotel, the bathroom had a very nice walk in shower and a double vanity. She wouldn't have to wrestle Leonard for time in front of the mirror, not that she would have to, its not like they would be in the bathroom at the same time. She thought back to the beach. Just where might things have gone if they were not disturbed by whoever that was yelling at them to stop? Penny brought her hand up to her left breast just as Leonard's was and her other gently rubbed the soft material down her body.

* * *

Penny came out of the bathroom and saw the room empty. she looked to the window and saw the curtain pulled back. Just outside, she could see Leonard standing at the railing looking intently at his phone. He looked deep in thought. She needed to talk to him. Leonard was startled slightly as Penny stepped out onto the balcony. She stepped up and leaned on the railing beside him. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Leonard turned. "Actually, Penny is what all my thoughts are about". He turned back to lookout at the ocean.

Penny leaned over to put her head on his shoulder. "You're so sweet, why aren't more guys like you?"

Leonard leaned into her. "Actually, there are plenty of guys like me. Its just that girls like you never see us. And that's not all you're fault. Frankly, we're flat out terrified of you. Not as terrified as we are of your boyfriends mind you, just look at Kurt compared to me, but still..."

Penny sighed. "Well you shouldn't be. There's very little to be afraid of that means a hill of beans about anything. You're way better people than us. And again, you were amazing taking care of Kurt." Penny turned to Leonard and put her arms up on his shoulders. He followed by placing his hands on her hips. They looked deeply into each others eyes before they each leaned in and kissed.

For lack of a better term, they were locked in a good old fashioned High School make out session. When their hands started to explore the cloth covered contours of each others bodies, each of them felt the soft plush material dividing them. Each thinking what it might be like if there were no robes at all.

Leonard reluctantly pulled away. They each took a needed breath. "Penny, why are you here with me?"

This was a question Penny was asking herself. Although if the truth be known, she was more concerned with why he was here with her. She took his hands and led him back into the room and climbed up on the bed sitting on her knees. Leonard followed sitting with his legs crossed. Penny tried to form her thoughts. "I have been asking myself that very same question. You are the first person to think I shouldn't be. That I should be with someone like Kurt. And you're right. Normally I would be. I'll admit, when I left our building, I had no thought of meeting anyone. Cripes, when I first saw you and Sheldon in the hallway on our floor I closed the door in your face. But then I found you outside and we started to talk. There was something different about you, something interesting". She smiled and held his hands tighter. "It didn't hurt that you're so darned cute. More than cute actually. But the more we talked, the more I wanted to know more about you. You were sweet and kind, obviously smart, way smarter than me. But you never once made me feel stupid, even if I didn't really know what you were talking about, which is probably more than you realize. Do you have any idea how different that is? Most guys just see the cute blonde with the nice rack and tight ass and all the dumb blonde jokes come out. It at least seemed different with you, and for some strange reason, you seemed to be interested in me. So I figured, why not? What did I have to lose? Obviously my last boyfriend didn't work out too well. Let me ask you, why are you here with me?"

Leonard looked back while switching his own thoughts. "Well, I can't deny that the nice rack and tight ass don't enter into this at some point. But you are WAY more than just cute."

Penny sighed. "I'm trying to be serious here."

Leonard nodded. "Sorry, sorry. But it is normal to have at least SOME physical attraction, especially in the beginning of any relationship, not that we are actually IN a relationship, I mean it was just one date, you did say that this was a date."

Penny was once again loving the shy and rambling Leonard, although she didn't exactly know why other than he was SO cute when he got flustered. "Focus Leonard, FOCUS, and yes it is a date. Why are you here with me?"

Leonard took a deep breath. Right, right, sorry. "When you helped me get off the ground in front of our building, you seemed so caring. Most girls I have known that look like you would have walked right passed me, or over me or actually ON me to get where they wanted to go." Penny immediately looked sorry for what he just said. "Then you asked me to go to your apartment and were not at all ashamed to have me there, and then we went to my apartment and you met Sheldon and the guys. You didn't seem to want to go running for the hills. That's a plus, sometimes I want to run away from them. You didn't judge us or them. Let me tell you, when you stayed in my apartment while I was in the shower, THAT was a BIG surprise. I have to say that it was a little nerve wracking when you found my underwear and went through and saw the stuff in my closet. But then you still wanted to go to dinner, even when you clearly had a way out when Sheldon didn't need a replacement dinner. When you agreed to go to the Italian place, how could I refuse? You're gorgeous! Then while we were walking, you were even nicer. It's like you're even better on the inside than the outside. and let me tell you, you can't get much better than the way you look on the outside." Penny immediately blushed. "When we were at the table, you even seemed interested in my olive trick, and you are NOT stupid. you almost got that right. centrifugal force is a common mistake. People make it all the time. You made me feel comfortable. Then defended me to your Ex. That kiss was unexpected. To be truthful, you are so much more than just your outside appearance. Sure you're beautiful, but you're funny, and you're kind and thoughtful. I've never actually met a girl like you. Well, maybe MET, but never talked to, or walked with, You're very touchy feely by the way, IN a GOOD way... and I certainly never got kissed by a girl like you. Even the ones I have kissed, no one ever kissed me like you did. There is just NO reason NOT to be here with you. You're the prettiest, nicest girl I have ever met. This has been the best day of my life."

Being that Penny was on her knees, it took no time at all to then launch herself at Leonard. She knocked him backwards on the bed landing squarely between his spread legs. The make out session from under the pier began again. It wasn't long before Leonard found a tender place under Penny's left ear on her neck that made her moan. "Mmmm salty..."

Penny immediately sat up. "Salty? like from the beach right?"

Leonard was surprised by the sudden weightlessness on his chest. "Ummm... I'm gonna say yes?"

Penny rolled her eyes. "Ugh! I need to take a shower." She then left the bed and went into the bathroom closing the door behind her.

* * *

Leonard wanted to just slap himself. There was no way this was going to get better. Things like this ALWAYS happened to him with girls, and they were always his fault. He got off the bed and gathered the clothes Penny had brought earlier and put them with his and called the laundry.

* * *

Penny stood once again looking into the mirror. She undid her ponytail and ran her fingers through her hair. There was sand everywhere. She then took off her robe and licked her arm. "Uck, Leonard was right, I'm all salty." The only thing she wasn't sure of was if the salt came from the ocean, or the sweat she had felt building each time they were close to taking their kissing to another level.

* * *

It was actually only a few minutes before there was a knock at the door. Leonard opened the door and gave their clothes to the hotel employee trying to explain that he and Penny were knocked over by a wave while walking on the beach. By the look on the employees face, the story wasn't all that convincing. Leonard shut the door and went back to sit on the edge of the bed.

* * *

Penny heard the door to the room open and then close, she thought it might be the laundry people or worse. Leonard might have thought that this crazy bitch of a tease neighbor wasn't worth the effort any more. Every time she thought things could go further, SOMETHING happened. First there was Kurt, then that WAVE, then someone almost catching them under the pier, and just now she practically leapt off the bed to get away from him just when things were really getting going. Penny looked back into the mirror and just shook her head. What was she going to do about Leonard? She turned and walked into the shower and turned on the water facing the wall, drenching her hair to get all the sand out.

* * *

Leonard heard the water of the shower start. He could just imagine Penny standing under the falling water, not all that different from what she looked like when they stood up from being hit by that wave. He could remember the feeling of her soft breasts under her top and the feeling of her smooth bottom under her skirt. He could feel the contours of her body under her robe and her smooth shoulders leading to her neck. Along with these thoughts, Leonard could feel the expected physical affects. He also remembered vividly the words he read about the sexual traits of Sagittarian women. Leonard could think of only one thing to do.


	8. Chapter 8

**Coming Together**

 **Leonard and Penny can no longer deny the attraction they have felt for each other almost from the beginning. This is the chapter where the story turns decidedly M. I don't own a single thing that is formally associated with the production television show The Big Bang Theory.**

Leonard stood in front of the bathroom door taking deepening breaths to the point of almost hyperventilating. Every time he reached for the doorknob, he stepped back wiping his now sweaty palm on his robe. "C'mon Leonard, you can do this!" Then he remembered something from a comic book he read. It was a quote from Superman, "You're much stronger than you think you are. Trust me". Leonard took one last breath and opened the door quietly. Before the warm humid air of the bathroom could fog up his glasses, Leonard could see the shape of a very naked Penny facing away from him in the shower. He stopped dead in his tracks. Suddenly he had the urge to go back into the room but stopped. He needed to try, He needed to let Penny know he could be the kind of man he thought she would want, the kind of man he thought she needed. He dropped his robe, walked to the shower and reached for the shower door and opened it slowly.

Penny turned quickly as she felt the cooler air from outside the shower invade her space to see Leonard stepping into the shower. She screeched slightly and covered herself as best she could which stopped Leonard in his place. Penny noticed quickly that Leonard's glasses had fogged as he then backed into the shower wall and seemed to be stuck with his hands now covering himself. Penny let down her hands and walked over to Leonard and in a surprised voice, said. "Sweetie, you should have said something if I was taking too much time in here." She then took off his glasses and saw that he had his eyes tightly squeezed shut. He didn't move an inch as he slowly opened his eyes staring past her to the other side of the shower. Penny thought the look in his eyes was of fear and embarrassment. She reached up and brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Leonard, its okay if you look."

Leonard then looked down starting to breathe heavier again. Penny smiled. "They won't break Leonard, go ahead." She reached down to take hold of him as he lifted a hand to her left breast. She was more than pleased with what she had found. She then pressed herself to him as she kissed him deeply, reaching behind him to finally feel that cute tushie she had admired in his jeans. They kissed while they explored each other. Penny poured some shampoo in his hair to wash out the sand as Leonard lathered her body. Things became far more heated, Leonard washing and rinsing the beautiful naked woman in his hands, getting more and more excited as he completed his task. Penny was very much enjoying the attention Leonard was paying to her. She had not been with a man since she broke up with Kurt and she was very much missing the feeling of another person's hands on her body. When Penny started to wash Leonard, as she began stroking and fondling him, suddenly his eyes went wide and he ran from the shower. Penny stood panting slightly from their actions. hanging her head.

* * *

Penny finished her shower, and wrapped her hair in one towel after drying and putting on her robe. What was she going to do now? What did she WANT to happen now? This was their first date. How could she justify what they were doing, where they were certainly headed?

* * *

When she went out into the room, she saw Leonard sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands. "Sweetie, are you okay?"

Leonard did not lift his head. "I am so embarrassed."

Penny was afraid this would happen. Leonard was going to shut in on himself. She needed to lighten the mood. "You? I was absolutely NOT ready for something like that. I'm practically mortified!"

Leonard looked up confused. "Whaaaat?"

Penny rolled her eyes dramatically. "Hello! I didn't have a chance to get a spa appointment." Leonard's eyebrows did that scrunching thing. It was adorable, but he clearly had no idea what Penny was talking about. "Ummm... I didn't get the chance for a proper wax job?"

Leonard looked up. "Penny, you are absolutely perfect. You do NOT need a waxing. And how could that POSSIBLY compare to what happened to me? I couldn't, when you, I just..."

Penny came and sat next to him. How could she respond to a comment like that? If he knew just how imperfect she was. How much inferior to him she really was. "Leonard, there's nothing to be embarrassed about, that happens WAY more than you think. No guy will admit it and no guy will ever even talk about it. Actually, it's really sort of a complement for me."

Leonard's eyes were wide. "A compliment, something like that. really!"

Penny smiled and lifted his chin with her finger. "Yeah, I'm SO hot, you couldn't wait."

Leonard sighed. "Nice try, but its still embarrassing."

Penny leaned on his shoulder. "Sweetie, how long has it been for you? Girl or otherwise?"

Leonard put his head back in his hands. "I'm not going to tell you that."

Penny giggled as she put an arm around his shoulders. "What did you expect? I still say it's because of my hotness, but if you've been needing a little release, you should be taking care of that more often".

Leonard looked into her sparkling eyes. "Hotness, let's go with your hotness definitely your hotness."

Penny nudged his shoulder and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Good answer. What do you want to do now?"

Leonard smiled. "Well considering we have no clothes, we're pretty much restricted to this room." Penny grinned widely while wiggling her eyebrows. Leonard looked slightly afraid. "How about we watch some TV?"

Penny shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, but I can't guarantee that all my attention will be on what you are watching."

They moved to the bed and sat up against the headboard propped up with all the pillows. Leonard found an airing of 2001 a Space Odyssey. It was a reprint of the Premier uncut, that meant with the commercials added in, there would be over three and a half hours hours before he would have to think of something else to do. Penny sat up close and rested her head on Leonard's shoulder as he put an arm around hers, the thought that there was nothing between them except for their robes was never far from her thoughts.

Leonard was clearly into the movie that Penny found little interest in. She kept asking questions but stopped because she thought she was just interrupting and didn't want Leonard to be distracted. It wasn't long before she rethought the idea of distracting him, Penny started to draw circles on Leonard's chest after snaking her hand into his robe. Not long after, she was putting little kisses along his jawline down to his neck. When she tried to continue to his shoulder, Leonard pulled his robe tighter.

Slightly disappointed, Penny rested her head back on his shoulder. Leonard could feel the disappointment and then turned to kiss her. For a good part of the movie, they were intent on kissing with the occasional respite for a bathroom break. At one point, Penny found the room service menu and ordered snacks and something to drink. By the end of the movie, Penny had fallen asleep in Leonard's lap after he gave her a scalp massage while running his fingers through her hair.

* * *

When the closing credits rolled across the screen, over three hours later, Leonard turned off the TV and heard the slightest snoring sound. The soft smile that came across his face as he moved the few strands of fallen hair away from her face was very comfortable for him. He just looked down at a sleeping Penny. She was amazingly beautiful to him, Her hair had dried and was soft and wavy. There was a calmness to her face, no signs of worry or stress, and the corners of her soft lips had the slightest smile to them. When she shifted, Leonard scooted from under her. He went to the sofa and carefully opened the bed.

Penny moved and reached out when she felt she was no longer on Leonard's lap. She felt around without any success, she was going to have to open her eyes. Turning over, she confusedly watched Leonard seem to struggle a bit with the sofa. He had opened it into a bed. "Sweetie, what are you doing?"

Leonard turned with a start. "I'm sorry I woke you up, I was getting the sofa bed ready to go to sleep."

Penny frowned. "Don't be silly, come to bed. This thing is huge." Penny yawned and got off the bed and went to the bathroom.

Leonard turned to put the sofa bed back into a sofa. When he turned around, he saw Penny's perfectly naked back as she sat on the other side of the bed getting under the covers.

Penny turned and saw the look on Leonard's face. "What? I'm not sleeping with that robe on and neither are you so get over here and come to bed." When Leonard tried to object, she sighed. "Leonard, we've already seen each other naked. Please come to bed." Penny turned her back to give him privacy as he shed his robe and got under the covers.

Penny smiled as she felt the covers rise and then settle down. When Leonard turned off the light, she felt it was safe to turn over to face him. "Sweetie, just so you know... we don't... OH...okay..."

Leonard leaned in and kissed her. Penny brought her hands up to caress his face as he leaned on one elbow while placing a gentle hand on her stomach. Quickly, the kiss became deeper and more passionate. Their bodies became much closer and their legs intertwined. Leonard could hardly believe how soft Penny was. Penny easily felt a rapidly growing Leonard on her inner thigh. Leonard explored Penny's back and firm yet smooth bottom. He ran his hands up the soft curves from her thigh to her breast as Penny raised her leg around his waist. He found that place on her neck that made her run to the shower earlier that evening. Penny moaned and pressed her hips into his. She found that he was nicely excited. Penny gyrated her hips trying to find him to increase the friction. Both began to breathe heavier.

Leonard stopped kissing along Penny's neck toward her breasts. "We don't have any..."

Penny arched her back wanting his lips back on her body. "Pill, Leonard, PILL..." She reached up and pulled his lips back to her breasts. "Oh... Leonard". She then reached down between them.

Leonard leaned to one side and pushed her onto her back. He looked into her dark lust filled pupils, gently spreading her legs with his free hand placed on her knee, letting it trail up her thigh.

Penny looked back, gasping slightly as his hand passed over her center, their stare into each other's eyes not breaking as he settled between her legs. "Leonard, are you sure?" She then felt him at her entrance. Still staring into his warm dark eyes, she felt him ever so slowly enter her. With every inch, she gasped a little more until he came to a stop fully within her. Penny threw her head back and ran her hands through Leonard's hair. She wasn't sure what to do now. She felt him within her. He seemed not to want to move. Did he change his mind? Penny rolled her hips getting very comfortable. She let out a pleased moan.

Leonard kissed along her neck nibbling on her earlobe before he raised up to look into her eyes once again. As he started a slow pace, Penny began to roll her hips in response, reaching behind and grabbing his butt to urge him on.

This was not like any first time Penny had ever had. This was slow and tender. Usually the first time with a guy was filled with animalistic lust. Leonard continued at a faster pace as Penny locked her ankles around his waist and behind his back. It was not unlike being taken against a wall... but so much better. As Leonard increased his pace Penny became more frantic. She was actually writhing beneath him trying to get more of him. To increase the feeling. She needed more. "Faster Leonard... HARDER!"

Leonard did not relent. He elongated each stroke and thrust with more force. Sweat was forming between Penny's breasts and her breaths were shorter. She could feel Leonard's skin moisten. She kicked the covers away.

Penny's eyes rolled back as she felt the coil deep within her wind ever tighter. Leonard continued suddenly picking up his pace causing Penny to buck her hips wildly. She dug her nails into his back. "Oh my GOD... LEONARD!" Their actions continued to be more forceful. Penny was moaning louder as Leonard tried to hide the occasional grunt. As one last strong thrust snapped that coil within her, Penny grabbed onto Leonard with her arms, legs and inner muscles. Pulsating contractions around him like he had never experienced pulled Leonard with her, causing spasms he could not control.

Leonard collapsed on Penny's chest, resting on her shoulder breathing heavily. Penny tried to steady her own breath softly running her fingers through his hair, then running her nails gently over his back. "Are you okay?" Leonard just nodded into Penny's shoulder as he took his full weight off her. Penny smiled. Sure it had been a while since she had been with a man, and she knew just how much she missed having sex, but this wasn't just sex, this was somehow different. She did not initiate it, didn't take control, never once had to deny him for trying anything. "Sweetie, that was amazing."

Leonard took a halting breath. "Beginner's Luck".

Penny chuckled. "Oh, Honey, THAT was no beginner's ANYTHING."

Penny waited for Leonard to get his breathing under control before a protracted and passionate kiss good night and turned to her side, pulling the covers back over them. Leonard took this time to safely lay behind her putting his hand on her hip. Penny smiled at his still apparent shyness and took hold of his hand, placing it just beneath her breasts so the top of his hand felt their soft contours. She then moved her hips back making firm contact with his, wiggling her hips to get comfortable. It wasn't long before both of them, exhausted from their romp, fell into a content sleep.

* * *

Some time in the very early morning, Penny was awakened by a prodding motion just behind her. She immediately noticed that the arm draped across her had a firm yet gentle grasp of her breast and she was completely naked. Thoughts upon thoughts came rushing through her head until she came to remember her night with Leonard and what they had done just before falling asleep. A mischievous grin replaced the confused frown. Slowly, she turned and Leonard fell onto his back. Penny bit on her lower lip pondering the possibilities. She settled on confirming her suspicions. Pulling back the covers, she smiled when she found she was right about the prodding. Leonard was sporting a considerable erection. One of Night's pleasant surprises. No doubt, he was having a pleasant dream. She only hoped she was the target yet again. Suddenly, a wicked thought came to her. She would have to do a bit of work first. In preparation for her dalliance, Penny pulled the covers back fully and thought. "Nice, but I know from experience, you can do better." She needed to be careful not to wake him too soon. Penny leaned over and took Leonard into her mouth easily achieving her intent. Leonard became everything she had remembered from earlier. To her delight, she also had become aroused, needing no added stimulation by her own hand. She then positioned herself over her target and lowered herself taking him in fully.

When Penny came to rest, Leonard awoke. She could see he was trying to focus. "Shhh, Sweetie... relax. This time you just leave the work to me." Leonard's hands settled on her hips where he once more enjoyed the smooth curves of her hips and waist. Penny smiled when she felt his touch. She immediately started to move her hips first back and forth and then in a circular motion that widened Leonard's eyes. As Leonard moved his hands up her ribs, Penny put her hands on his chest leaning forward giving him full access to her breasts. Leonard took full advantage of the new position and massaged Penny's chest with gentle care. She quickened her pace as Leonard teased her now erect nipples with his tongue along with a nibble. As Penny became more forceful, he sat up and brought his chest to hers as he gave her a deep passion filled kiss. Leonard lay back down with Penny following him stretching her legs. Leonard began thrusting deep within her as Penny continued to grind her hips. Just as before, each were chasing an ever growing climax which suddenly brought both of them to simultaneous bliss, each holding their partner tightly until they once again calmed. This time, it was Penny that collapsed onto Leonard's chest breathing heavy and smiling wider than she could remember. This time, there was no repositioning. They stayed as they were in that position until they fell into a contented sleep.

* * *

Morning came and very much out of character for her, Penny woke first. She needed to use the bathroom and slipped on her robe. When she returned to the room, Leonard had rolled over still sleeping. Penny smiled God he was cute! Penny proceeded to make a cup of coffee and went out to the balcony. She could think of nothing more than the day and night before. This was her typical pattern but something was very, very different. She broke up with her boyfriend and moped around for a while, picking up a new guy, going off somewhere with him and having mind blowing meaningless sex. But this did not seem like her typical rebound sex relationship. Sure it was mind blowing, but somehow it did not feel meaningless. How could she justify this as not a one night stand? This wasn't supposed to happen until the THIRD date if this was a real potential relationship. They were supposed to get to know each other before jumping into the sack. Just the thought of what they did TWICE last night excited her.

Suddenly as she was taking a sip of her coffee, she felt her robe lifted up to her waist and being entered from behind. Her eyes went wide. As she turned, she saw Leonard in his robe, over his shoulders but open. He was holding her firmly at the waist as he thrust deep into her. She smiled "Good morning Sweetie". This was probably completely out of character for him but mostly in line with what she might do. They were on the balcony, outside in the morning air, she was bending forward as he had his way with her, in clear sight of anyone that was on the beach looking back to the hotel. This particular morning there were a few, although their view was blocked by the robes Penny and Leonard were wearing. As they approached their climax, Penny decided to push the limits of Leonard's new expanded experiences. She stood up and opened her robe, turned around and let her robe fall back off her shoulders a bit fully exposing her shoulders and breasts. She licked her lips. "C'mon Lover, take me right now! Right here!" Leonard responded by dropping his robe to the ground and lifting Penny up to the railing where he rejoined with her. She responded by locking her ankles behind him as he held her up with his hands under her butt. Penny thought to her self that it was too bad there weren't more people on the beach that morning. They were missing a great show. Once they finished, Penny donned her robe wrapping it around both of their naked bodies and held Leonard in a tight hug as he tried to calm his breathing. "We really should remember that inhaler thingy if we're going to keep doing this." Leonard then reached into the pocket of his discarded robe to take out his inhaler. Taking two puffs as he put on his own robe, they made their way back into the room where they enjoyed a morning cup of coffee.

Penny was now hungry so they ordered room service for breakfast and it was delivered along with their cleaned and pressed laundry. They each had more coffee with bacon and eggs. Leonard knocked over the salt shaker and Penny quickly grabbed some of the spilled salt and tossed over her shoulder, Leonard giving Penny a look when she managed to put an entire bacon strip in her mouth. She looked at him. "What? I love bacon". Once everything was finished and the food cart placed out into the hallway, Penny turned to Leonard and smiled. "Wanna share a shower?"

* * *

It wasn't long before Leonard found himself once again staring at a beautifully naked Penny, her hair wet and her skin glistening from the water running off of it. Lathering each other up seemed almost natural only one day after they met and barely half a day after their awkward first attempt at intimacy. Leonard dropped the soap and went to one knee looking up at Penny. She suddenly felt self conscious. "I told you I didn't have a chance to go to the spa". Leonard paid no attention to her words as he leaned forward and buried his head between Penny's legs. Penny put her fingers through Leonard's hair as she leaned back on the wall. Leonard continued as Penny reached for the shampoo and squirted some in Leonard's hair. As Penny rinsed the soap out of his hair she pulled him tighter to her pressing him closer as her knees went weak. Leonard felt the tell tale contractions at her center as she almost collapsed onto his shoulders.

Leonard stood holding Penny up until she regained her strength. "Best shampoo I ever got."

Penny giggled as she got a wicked idea. She smiled. "Your turn". She handed him the shampoo and got on her knees. Leonard had never experienced this before. None of his sexual exploits, as limited as they were, ever progressed this far. As he washed her hair, he marveled at the feeling. Penny seemed to be a master. She licked fondled and stroked until he pulled out, not wanting her to experience what certainly was not enjoyable. Penny stood to hold Leonard and finished washing him off then rinsed the shampoo out of her own hair.

Stepping out of the shower and drying each other off seemed like stepping out into a brave new world.


	9. Chapter 9

**To continue, or NOT to continue, THAT is the** **question!**

 **Penny and Leonard need to decide where this unlikely ride to somewhere is going. I would tell them but I have never been invited into the writers room and never expect to be.**

Their clothes were washed and pressed beautifully, even Leonard's sports coat. Penny put on her skirt and top, looking into the mirror. The outfit that she intentionally put on the day before, for a specific reason somehow did not look like she felt it should today. Today she didn't feel like she wanted to put herself out there, she didn't want random guys looking at her as some kind of conquest, like some kind of trophy they could brag about. She had left her hair loose and wavy. It seemed more appropriate, it covered her up just that much more. She didn't have any of her "implements of hair torture" with her anyway, so it was either that or a ponytail. On top of all that, she had no makeup. Leonard assured her she was beautiful just the way she was, not really needing any makeup at all... and he was the one that suggested to leave her hair loose. That suggestion was made as they were side by side in front of the mirror, brushing their teeth with their fingers, in the bathroom at the same time. Something Penny admitted to herself last evening she didn't think would happen. She smiled at the thought and was happy she was wrong. After what they did last evening, and over night, and again this morning... twice, Penny couldn't think of a single reason not to please him. She smiled when he put on his shirt and then promptly unbuttoned that shirt one button more than he had it and rolled up his sleeves just two turns of his cuffs so they were half way up his forearms.

Just before they went to leave the room, Leonard put his sport coat on Penny and then rolled up her sleeves and smiled. Penny smiled at Leonard as she put a final tug on her sleeves to make them nice and crisp. "Look at you being all stylish." She then ran her fingers through his hair styling it just a bit and put her arms up to his shoulders intertwining her fingers behind his neck leaning back and taking in his warm brown eyes and sweet smile. She smiled back then bit her lower lip. The stubble look really did work on him. She then pulled Leonard in for a tender kiss.

* * *

Leonard made a quick stop at the front desk to check out. When he saw that the clerk from the evening before was at the desk, Leonard made sure he had a firm hold of Penny's hand. He wanted to make a point that Penny was more than just a one night stand. Penny caught on quickly and leaned in just a little closer then put her arm around his waist. Leonard really was so much different from the other guys she had been with.

* * *

They walked to Leonard's car and began their drive home to Pasadena. The drive to Santa Monica was quiet because they were apprehensive about what MIGHT happen. Leonard was hopeful and Penny was trying to figure out why she found her new neighbor so inviting. The drive back to Pasadena was quiet for a completely different reason. It was quiet because of what actually DID happen while they were there in Santa Monica. Penny had not expected to spend the night with Leonard, at best, she just wanted to get to know him a little better. As it turned out, she got to know him a whole LOT better. A smile crept across her face as she remembered everything from the great food to the unbelievable sex.

Leonard had experienced things with Penny that he could have only dreamed about. Things were awkward at first, then they were tender and they were exciting. HE experienced things with Penny he literally only red about. He was trying to figure out how, whatever happened between them, how could he keep it going.

Penny was still trying to put some reason to what they had shared. Was it her typical "Wham-Bam-thank-you-Sam" hookup? It didn't feel like it. But how else could she justify sleeping with Leonard on their first date? Not just once, FOUR times! In less than one day! The signs were clear, but things felt so different. She turned to look at Leonard. He seemed to be thinking. For all she knew, he could just be concentrating on driving. She never saw someone so fixated on the "rules of the road", if such things actually existed. "Leonard, can we talk?"

Leonard was immediately nervous. "Ummm, sure, but just so you know, I understand, I mean, really, compared to someone like Kurt, I get it, I really do, there's no way... I could..."

Penny knew Leonard would do this, try to deflect, to deny, to take the blame if things didn't go well. They only just met, but she could tell. This was the kind of guy he was, someone that would put someone else's feelings before his own. Why else would he have been going out to get his crazy roommate more food because there was a mix-up in the order? Someone that would protect his friends, making sure they were safe before himself. She put her left hand on his right, taking it off the steering wheel and intertwining her fingers. "Leonard STOP! ... Yes I would like to talk about what happened in Santa Monica, but you have to listen to me. First, you have to let go of ANYTHING to do with Kurt. Yes he was my boyfriend, yes I had sex with him, yes he is taller than you, yes he is stronger than you, but he is NOT better than you. He is not as smart as you, he is not as sweet as you, he is not as kind as you, he is not as understanding as you. And I'll tell you something else. You're probably worried about how you measure up against him in bed. Well, even if you don't MEASURE up to him, and let me tell you, you don't have anything to be worried about, and I'm not all that proud to say I have more than a little experience in that department. It's not how BIG you are that matters. It's what you DO with it that matters. And what YOU did with it last night was WAY better than it ever was with Kurt. You may be smart with Physics, but you were some kind of genius in bed last night, and then again this morning. What you did on the balcony and in the shower this morning, all I can say is WOW."

Leonard blushed. "Actually I may have had a little help on that." It was clear that Penny didn't have a clue as to what he was getting at by the slightly gaping confused look on her face. "I looked that up on the internet".

Penny closed her eyes and shook her hands to clear her thoughts. "Okay, okay, we'll deal with that later. I broke up with him for reasons and you are none of those things. And none of this has anything to do with what I want to talk about!"

Leonard heard the displeasure in Penny's voice. "Sorry, sorry, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

Penny sighed. "I wanted to make sure you understood that I wasn't just using you for sex. I mean, look at what I'm wearing. If this isn't a "come and get some" outfit, I don't know what is. And to be perfectly honest, that's why I put it on."

Leonard frowned. "So you DID just want to have sex."

Penny knew she said the wrong thing. "No, well yes, but definitely no. I mean, it started out that way. I think I was interested but didn't really know why. But what I DO know is me, and picking out a guy and running off with him and having thirty six hours of meaningless sex is what I do after I have a breakup".

Leonard scrunched his eyebrows. "So either I have around fourteen to eighteen more hours of meaningless sex or... you're going to brea..."

Penny stopped him. "That's just it, I don't want it to be meaningless. I don't think it was. Do you?"

Leonard took a deep breath. "Penny, if I tell you that I have been sitting here the whole time since we left Santa Monica, that I have been trying to figure out how to get you to go on another date with me, and that what happened yesterday, and last night AND this morning was the best day of my life, and I hoped it WASN'T and didn't WANT it to be meaningless, do I still get twelve to eighteen more hours"? He then gave Penny a smile and wiggled his eyebrows. The smile that was quickly becoming something she loved about him. The smile that easily told her he was playing with her.

Penny slapped his arm. But there was no way she could let him get the upper hand. It was one thing having Leonard best someone like Kurt, it was TOTALLY different for him to get an edge on her. A wicked smile came to her face. "Eighteen hours of what? Of THIS?" Penny then reached over to Leonard's crotch and somehow, not known to him, unzipped his jeans in an easy quick move.

Leonard brought his knees quickly together. To Penny's amusement, Leonard lost control of his steering and pulled the car into the adjacent lane almost colliding with another car. "Careful there Sweetie, you really need to pay more attention to the road." As he gained control, Penny continued her adventures. She reached into Leonard's pants and quickly found her target. "There it is!" She then flicked her thumb an popped Leonard out into the open.

Leonard unsuccessfully tried to get himself back into his pants. Something he really needed two hands for in the best of circumstances. Now, he had to contend with a very determined beautiful blonde while steering his car. "What are you trying to do?"

Penny easily bested him in her quest as she took him into her hand and stroked him gently. "I'm trying to start on your eighteen hours of course!" She then gave him a broad smile, a wink of her eye and then leaned over into his lap and took him into her mouth. Leonard's mind went immediately back to this morning's shower. Penny was some kind of a master at this. He started to lose himself in the feeling.

Leonard jerked the car to the right and almost off the road. Penny sat up while still stroking the quickly hardening rod in her hand. "Careful, its really dangerous for you if you stop quickly and I'm... well, you know." She then made an "o" with her lips and bobbed her head slightly. Leonard's eyes went wide when he realized what she was saying. The possibilities were few when thinking of what might happen to that specific part of his anatomy if he got into an accident while being serviced while driving his car. Penny then looked around while still softly caressing him. "We're almost home. stop at the park. I know a spot."

* * *

Leonard pulled into the parking area and drove to the back corner as Penny directed while still tending to her task. "The feeder brook for the lake is back in the woods. It's a beautiful place." When the car was parked, Penny clapped her hands in anticipation of what she had planned. What she didn't tell Leonard was her actions on him were having an equal affect on her, she could easily feel her own moistening arousal. Leonard took this time to attempt to contain himself.

Penny would have none of it. "Hey, don't you dare put that away, just pull your shirt out of your pants." Doing as he was told, Leonard found that he was sufficiently hidden by his shirt. He was quickly met on his side of the car by Penny who put her hand between the tails of his shirt taking a firm hold of him once again. "COME... with ME!"

Leonard had little choice but to follow as he was being led away. Once they were into the woods, they found a walking path. It was little traveled except for a few people. Penny wasn't worried or deterred, she turned, releasing Leonard and pulling him in for a passion filled kiss. Leonard responded easily. He moved his hands to her scantily clad breasts, kneading them gently as she moaned in pleasure. Penny turned in his hold pressing her hips back into him, softly swaying her hips smiling when she realized his excitement had not abated. In fact, if anything, he had grown in his anticipation. As Leonard's hands moved down her body, Penny broke his hold giggling. She turned and smiled widely. "Nuh-uh... you have to catch me first". She then turned and ran down the path.

* * *

Leonard caught up to Penny by a small building that housed male and female restrooms. She laughed as he came to a stop and bent at the waist trying to catch his breath.

Penny was immediately concerned. "Leonard, are you okay? Do you have your inhaler?"

To her surprise, Leonard stood quickly and grabbed her. "I'm okay enough to catch you!" She tried to get away but he held her fast as she turned in his hold. They were both breathing heavy now as they could both feel each other separated only by the meager cloth of Penny's skirt. Leonard ran his erection along the valley between her smooth firm bottom, he reached down and lifted her skirt from behind. Penny easily felt his hard warm prodding and stepped slightly wider and reached down to move her thong out of the way. Leonard easily and forcefully found his target as as Penny gasped, willingly accepting him as he held her around her waist, her hands firmly against the wall of the small building.

They were in broad daylight in the early afternoon. Leonard could never have imagined this would happen to him. He seemed to be living those astrological words he read back at the Italian restaurant at the beginning of this journey. He couldn't help himself, he was more forceful with each advance of his hips, moving his hands from her hips to her breasts and back. He pressed Her against the side of the building, standing her up as he continued his advances. Penny moaned louder each time she felt him come to a brief rest within her.

Just as they were interrupted under the pier, they heard someone coming even through their intense coupling. Leonard pulled out and Penny immediately turned and kissed him, forcing her tongue into his mouth. Leonard took hold of her and walked her backward into the men's room and into a stall. Penny turned and locked the door behind them and pushed Leonard's pants to the ground after a hasty release of his belt. She then pushed Leonard down on the toilet and found her target straddling his hips facing the wall. She threw her arms around his neck and ground her hips into him as someone came into the men's room. Leonard held his hand to Penny's mouth to stifle a laugh. Penny returned the gesture but continued softly moving her hips, maintaining their playful intent.

They continued as their unwanted guest completed his task, just a thin metal divider between them, then leaving. It wasn't long before the slow gentle movements of Penny upon Leonard turned quicker, harder and more forceful culminating in their simultaneous calling out of each other's names. They then quickly cleaned up and chuckled at the experience, marveling at their ability to continue as someone was peeing just next to them and at the awesome acoustics of the bathroom as they called out their joy.

* * *

They practically ran back to their car like two kids almost caught with their hands in the cookie jar, with crumbs falling out of the side of their mouths. As Leonard fastened his seat belt, Penny leaned over and couldn't help but to grab Leonard's face and force her tongue into his mouth. She could never have dreamed that a short trip to the mini-mart across the street from her new apartment for a quick bite to eat would turn into one of the most exciting, satisfying experiences she could remember.

* * *

As he approached the front door to their building, Leonard couldn't help but to marvel at the feeling he was experiencing. It was everything he could imagine, more than he could dream, ever since he had first caught a glimpse of the beautiful blonde woman standing in the door of the apartment across from his. It was a fleeting glimpse, yet he had such hopes, such dreams. Leonard was ready to reach out for the front door and tripped on a crack in the pavement. It was a crack that had annoyed Sheldon along with the dysfunctional elevator, however, Sheldon couldn't blame the crack on Leonard. Sheldon would just remark that "Someone will certainly KILL themselves tripping on that crack one day, you need only a difference of two centimeters in height to cause someone to lose their balance"! Leonard had successfully navigated the crack countless times in the past. The difference today was his preoccupation with Penny and the amazing twenty four hours they had spent together. It was all like a dream. A WONDERFUL dream. As quickly as Leonard tripped, he went down, hitting his head on the pavement.

* * *

Leonard half smiled half grimaced in pain. The look in those incredible green eyes looking down at him was both caring and concerned. It was a look he was not familiar with. No one in his past ever seemed to show that much emotion toward him. He could feel the soft hands of this beautiful blonde helping him off the ground around his shoulders. The soft hands of that very same beautiful woman across the hall from his apartment. The woman he only caught a glimpse of before she closed her door. She had just helped him off the pavement in front of the building. They were sitting on the bench outside the front door.

 **A/N: So... where is THIS going? I have an idea, but what do you think?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Figuring it all out**

 **Penny and Leonard come to realize that some things cannot be denied. No matter how hard you try, risks have to be taken sometime to find what is real and to be happy with what you have. Once again, I own nothing that has anything to do with the Production Television program The Big Bang Theory, it's just so much fun to play with the characters.**

Penny looked worriedly toward Leonard as she slowly rubbed his back. "Sweetie are you okay?"

Leonard looked down at his sneakers as he reached back and rubbed the back of his head. He could feel the bump on his head. "I'll be fine".

Penny tried to peer around to see the look in his eyes. She was worried at what she saw, it was a mixture if disappointment and disrepair. "What is the matter?"

Leonard was trying to put words to his thoughts. "I was just wondering if this was all just a dream".

Penny was confused. "Wondering if WHAT was a dream?"

Leonard sighed. "This... all of this, you, me, us."

Penny was becoming worried for her neighbor. "What are you talking about?"

Leonard just stared straight ahead. "It is or was Friday the Thirteenth, all the signs were there." A slight pall of gloom came over his face. "The mirror broke on my car and my laser experiment wouldn't work, I walked under a ladder to get into the... clinic... to give some... you look just like a girl in a VH... it doesn't matter why or where.. Ugh... just that things didn't work out. A black cat ran across in front of me before I first met you... and you closed your door before we could actually meet. Then I slipped on that banana peel. That's when it all gets tangled up."

Leonard rubbed his head. "The black cat came back. Your shower didn't work and there was that fiasco with meeting my friends."

Penny was intently listening to him ramble on about some kind of signs. All the while, she gently rubbed his back. It was very true that she was a believer in signs, omens, psychics and ghosts, but all these things he was saying? He seemed so worried, so afraid.

Leonard did not seem to notice the physical contact with this beautiful blonde by his side. "I was practically killed by a Raven, and then stepped on a crack in the sidewalk. After that, I lost my olive, the waiter spilled a drink in my lap and your ex showed up. Its like nothing was SUPPOSED to go well right from the start. All the signs were against me, or us, or even the possibility of there even BEING an us."

Penny could sense that her new neighbor was falling into much darker place. She leaned in closer leaning her head on his shoulder. "Sweetie, none of that matters. Sure you might think that there were some pretty bad signs, and bad things seemed to follow, but none of that matters."

Leonard looked at her. "Seemed to happen? They happened! Didn't they? Unless this was a dream... they happened! Unless yesterday wasn't Friday the Thirteenth... they happened!" He looked into the prettiest green eyes he ever saw. "Was it all a dream?"

Penny saw the want in his eyes. The want that it was real. The want to know the truth. She put a hand to his cheek. "Sweetie, all you are remembering are the bad omens, the bad outcomes, the broken mirror, the ladder, the crows, or ravens or whatever birds they were, cracks or whatever... Don't you remember any good omens? The good things that happened? There were good signs too." Suddenly there seemed to be a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Penny could see a change in him. "Do you remember me picking up that new shiny penny? That led to that fantastic dinner. Do you remember picking up YOUR Penny after SHE was knocked over by that wave? That led to some pretty amazing sex. Do you remember me tossing the salt you spilled over my shoulder at breakfast... after we had that amazing shower? Do I have to really remind you of the what happened after that in the park? No Leonard, it wasn't a dream. It was real, I'm real, we're real. I WANT it to be real, I NEED it to be real. Don't you?"

Penny placed a tender kiss on Leonard's lips. She needed to bring him back to where they were just a short time ago. Where he was bold enough to take her in the park in full view if anyone that might come by, or on the balcony of a hotel room. "It's true that we only met yesterday, and that things like what we did never happen that fast, but I promise... it all happened."

Leonard turned, registering what Penny was saying. He looked up apprehensively. "So, what do we do now?"

Penny sighed. "I'm not sure, nothing like this ever happened to me before. I mean the sex thing, sure... with other guys, but not like we did, not like what it felt we had. I never felt like that before". She shyly smiled. "I liked it. Somehow it felt special." Penny took his hands in hers. "Everything happened so fast, I don't want to mess anything up. I think we should slow things down somehow."

Leonard smiled. "Slower seems more my speed. And messing things up is something I particularly excel at, especially with girls, and I'm not talking about girls like you, all girls pretty much. So if you can figure out how to not have me mess tings up, I'll be good with whatever it is."

Penny frowned. "What do you mean, girls like me?!"

Leonard blushed a bit. "Well, you're not like any girl I ever knew before... You're, well, perfect."

Now it was Penny's turn to blush. "Oh Sweetie, you don't have any idea how NOT perfect I really am."

Leonard really liked this look on her. "Well, you're perfect in my eyes. So how do we do this? Slow things down how?"

Penny bit her lower lip in deep thought. "Come, with me!" Leonard almost instinctively held his hands to his crotch. Penny giggled. "We're supposed to be taking it slower Leonard. Just follow me".

* * *

They then climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. Penny stopped at the landing between 4A and 4B. She turned to Leonard. "Stand here".

Dutifully, Leonard stood still at the top of the stairs just outside his own apartment watching as Penny opened the door to her own apartment, stepped inside and turned toward Leonard. She looked into his eyes and smiled. "Oh, Hi!"

Leonard caught on quickly. He stepped closer. "Hi."

Penny put out her right hand. "My name is Penny."

Leonard took Penny's hand. "I'm Leonard. I live across the hall in apartment 4A, we must be new neighbors. We should have coffee sometime."

Penny was enjoying this little exchange. "It just so happens that I unpacked my coffee maker and could use a little break, why don't you come on in and have a cup right now? You'll have to excuse a little mess though."

Leonard raised an eyebrow, considering he was already in her apartment, he knew full well what the degree of "mess" Penny was speaking of. "Oh, that's okay, moving in can be very taxing".

Just as they were about to enter Penny's apartment, the door to 4A opened. Sheldon stood looking across the hall directly at Leonard and dismissing Penny completely. "Leonard, I thought that I heard your voice. I have to say, it's about time you showed up. When we got back from the comic book store last night, it took me knocking on your bedroom door thrice before it was apparent you were not home. I have to tell you that not letting me know of your whereabouts will cause me to give you one strike. You know very well that we have to meet Raj and Howard for the beginning of the Planet of the Apes marathon, so lets get going, Chop, chop. Come along!" Sheldon stood impatiently waiting after clapping his hands for Leonard to follow his directions.

Penny frowned with a look of disbelief on her face. Leonard gestured in her direction. "Sheldon, this is our new neighbor Penny"

Sheldon cocked his head trying to understand why Leonard was not following his directions. "Of course it is. Who else would it be. Now we must be going. If we're late you will be given your third strike and you will have to take my class, you know how much you dislike that, now come along Leonard."

Penny was trying to figure out just what was happening before her eyes. This was NOT a normal conversation between friends, or roommates, or roommates that were supposed to be friends. One thing seemed to be apparent to her, she took Leonard with one hand and her door in the other. In one quick move, she pulled Leonard into her apartment and looked at her other neighbor. "Nice to meet you too Sheldon." She then firmly closed the door locking it and turned to Leonard putting both her hands to his cheeks and giving him a kiss.

* * *

Sheldon stood on the outside of the door in stark disbelief. Just as he was going to knock on the door to insist Leonard do his bidding, the firm "CLICK" of the dead bolt and the fastening of the security chain could be heard.

* * *

Leonard stepped back trying to put the mixed signals of earlier, agreeing to take things slow, with getting a tender kiss just now. "Ummm, Penny?"

Penny looked into the confused look on Leonard's face. "I was just checking to see if this thing that happened between us is worth putting up with your wackadoodle roommate for".

Leonard looked nervous. "Is there a verdict?"

Penny smiled wickedly. "The Jury's still in deliberations." She lifted her top over head exposing her braless chest and buried Leonard's face between her breasts.

Shirts, pants, flip flops socks and sneakers, a skirt, and assorted underwear were strewn about, leaving a trail to Penny's bedroom within minutes.

* * *

Leonard lay on his back with both arms out trying to catch his breath. Penny was leaning up on an elbow while drawing circles on Leonard's chest with one leg intertwined with his. "Well, THAT was fun!"

Leonard took a deep breath. "Yeah, except when I got that cramp".

Penny giggled at the thought of Leonard's foot cramping just as they were coming to a simultaneous climax. Penny's grabbing him tightly as she arched her back in pleasure as his last thrust came to a rest within her, seemed to take all his concentration. "You really hung in there though." She leaned over and tenderly nibbled on one ear lobe.

Leonard raised his shoulder. "So how did this fit into the deliberations?"

Penny thought. "Perhaps we should reconsider the deliberations and move on to negotiations. "She then leaned over and placed her lips on one nipple gently sucking and then ending in a playful nip.

Leonard moved a hand down her side and then back up to her breast, sending shivers up her spine. "How so?"

Penny re-positioned herself to more leaning on Leonard semi-straddling his leg grinding her hips to increase her contact with him. "First, you need to clarify what you meant by getting help from the internet for what happened back in Santa Monica."

Leonard was a little nervous. "Well we have to back up to Rosalie's, when you said that you were a Sagittarius, and that was more than I probably needed to know, I thought that you were giving me a message. So I figured that I probably should research that a little. You know, so I would actually have some information that I needed to know".

Penny could feel his apprehension. "Aw c'mon, what did you think I meant?"

Leonard shrugged as he felt Penny flatten out her hand as she placed it on his chest. "I umm, I actually had no clue so I looked it up on the internet while I was in the bathroom at the restaurant, before Kurt showed up, probably WHILE he was showing up actually."

Penny wanted to remove that memory from Leonard's mind and kissed his shoulder as she started to draw circles again on him, this time lower, trailing down his stomach. "You looked up what exactly?"

Leonard didn't miss the actions Penny was performing on his naked body. "Considering I'm not all that familiar with Astrology, or don't even know anything at all about it, so... actually, I looked up everything really. Personality for example, free spirited, friendly, positive outlook." Penny smiled and moved her hand further down his body.

Leonard continued. "There! That's another thing, your magnetic smile. And I think we can both agree that your home is somewhat of a hodgepodge, and minimalist at least in size. Your passionate about your career, or at least the one you hope to have. And you proved you are loyal almost to a fault in your relationships, heck, you put up with Kurt." He then raised the leg Penny was semi straddling firmly positioning her on his leg and moving her up closer to his own hips.

Penny's eyes went wide as she seemed to glide all too easily up his thigh coming to a stop at Leonard's hip. Smiling widely, she reached over and took him into her hand as she rocked her hips pressing herself against him now fully straddling his leg. "Is there more?" Not knowing where this was going, Penny now re-positioned herself between Leonard's legs where she could easily feel the immediate affect she was having on him feeling him grow beneath her.

Leonard took a breath feeling the same growth Penny could. "Well, there are... sexual traits..."

At this revelation, Penny raised up on both hands, arms at full length. She cocked her head and flatly stated. "SEX-ual traits!" Just as before, she could feel the affect she had on him. Only this time Penny felt Leonard recede beneath her as if a bucket of cold water was thrown on him.

Leonard gulped. "Not bad... traits... just that you are passionate, energetic, will try anything, that sex with you is for the brave and athletic... which I am usually decidedly not... that you are all about the new experience."

Penny sat up and straddled Leonard's hips. "So what we did was just for show? Because of something you READ on the internet?!"

Leonard was more than a little distracted by the fact that Penny's breasts were in full view. Realizing where his eyes had migrated to, Penny rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of herself. Leonard now saw the look on her face. "Of course not... I..."

Penny rolled her eyes again as Leonard seemed to go mute. "Okay then, how much was a put on...?"

Leonard could feel himself receding even more. "I... uh... maybe the balcony... and probably the shower... cause I never did anything like that before... there was even a tutorial." Penny's mouth now hung in disbelief. Leonard could see easily that he was NOT making things better. "But it was just the execution... the desire was all mine... I wasn't trying to impress you I just needed a little help on the details, like I said, I never did anything like that before, I didn't want to disappoint you."

Penny sighed. "DISappoint ME? No, no, no, THAT is happening right NOW! How could you DO that? DisRESPECT is more like it! How much of that first time..." Her thoughts were getting ahead of themselves. "I thought you were different. I am SO tired of being treated like a piece of MEAT! Guys falling all over me just to get in bed and have a good old fashioned roll in the hay with the farmer's daughter!" She needed to calm herself, she was afraid to hear the answer. "How FAKE was that first time?!" Her tone was absolutely flat. She could feel her eyes moistening. The impending answer could be devastating.

Leonard smiled slightly thinking back to climbing under the covers and taking a very naked Penny in his arms. "None of it." Penny's look softened. "Penny, your gorgeous. Any guy would be out of his mind not to want to have sex with you."

Penny looked hurt. "So it WAS just sex then? Do you want to rephrase that? Do you realize how that feels? How many guys just want to have sex with me?"

Leonard could almost see her eyes well up. "No Penny, NO!" There had to be something Leonard could do or say that could fix this. "I had been feeling like there might be something between us since you found me on the sidewalk, or when we went up to your apartment, or on the walk to the Italian place, or under the pier. I couldn't help myself. Heck, I was hopeful from that very first time I saw you. It didn't matter what I read. That first time was just me wanting you, hoping there was really something between us."

Penny could feel Leonard once again growing beneath her. "Good, cause it felt the same way for me too." She sat back onto Leonard's thighs a bit letting down her arms. "Look, Leonard, I don't want there to be any lies or secrets between us. If this thing, whatever it is, if this isn't real, its not worth it. I can't go through that again... not after Kurt."

Leonard reached down to rub from Penny's thighs back to her firm bottom. "There's a thing?"

Penny smiled while reaching between Leonard's legs to gently fondle him. "Do you want there to be a thing?"

Leonard was losing his focus. "Ummm. what about going slow. I thought we were going to be just friends."

Penny scooched up to sit just at his base. "I guess this is where the negotiation part comes in. There's friends, and there's sex."

Leonard reached up to gently massage Penny's breasts. "So friends with benefits".

Penny smiled at his touch. She then leaned forward putting her hands on Leonard's chest to get some leverage. She then started to inch her way along him, sliding smoothly up and back to his base. "Sure, friends no question, and benefits if you like".

Leonard could easily feel how moist Penny was. Every time she moved up to his tip, he would arch his back trying to find his target. "Oh, I would like... VERY much!"

Penny was beginning to lose herself in her own motion. "There's also MORE than friends." She ground her hips down harder on him sliding along him with a quickening pace. She easily let Leonard have access to her chest leaning forward.

Leonard grabbed her close and flipped them over quickly finding his target almost slamming into her, each of them gasping as Leonard came to rest. "Just so you know, that was all me. No cheating from the internet". He then started at a slow pace.

Penny smiled. "Let's not throw the internet completely out of the picture. That performance on the balcony and in the shower are things to remember". She started to roll her hips in rhythm with Leonard. "Where do we stand on more than friends"?

Leonard picked up the pace along with more force. "With or without sex?"

Penny closed her eyes relishing in Leonard's movements. "Oh my God!" She was really enjoying both the sex and playful banter. This was surely not like any sex she had had. There was usually just some grunting along with the grinding. Penny wanted more. She pulled Leonard close and quickly rolled them over not losing contact so she could get control, immediately grinding onto him, digging her nails into his chest while arching her back. "With sex... DEFINITELY WITH sex."

Their motions became more violent, Penny grinding back and forth while Leonard bucked his hips in time with her. "Arrrggg". Leonard was trying to hold out as long as he could. He was panting at each of Penny's strong movements. "That... sounds... more... like... a... real... co... mit... ment..."

Penny suddenly sat up stiffly arching her back as Leonard grabbed each breast. "Yes... yes... YES!"

Leonard was equally as rigid holding on, feeling her thighs squeeze his hips as if he was caught in a vise as they both reached their climax.

Penny collapsed on his chest as he felt her contractions subside. He gently rubbed her back as they both regained their breath. Leonard smiled as Penny contentedly hummed into his ear. Leonard needed to know the answer to one question. "So where are we on the negotiation?"

Penny panted slightly. "Screw the negotiations. I give... UNCLE!"

Leonard chuckled. "What are you saying?"

Penny leaned up on one weak arm. "I'm saying that I don't want to try to figure out why this thing... US... shouldn't or couldn't work out. I don't want to think of how to sabotage what we have by being afraid. I don't care if we have only known each other for one day. It would be foolish to throw this away just because we're different. I don't want to take it slow... If we're compatible we'll figure it all out while we go at whatever pace we feel comfortable with. I want to know that we can have THIS... what we have been doing for the past twelve hours WHENEVER, WHEREVER we feel like it. In the park or at the beach, or all alone in bed together. THAT's what I'm saying!"

Leonard could hardly believe his ears. "So, boyfriend, girlfriend?"

Penny smiled. "If you think about it the Friday the Thirteenth thing kinda happened like you said, all those signs and the goofy bad things that happened. It was like there was some force that was trying to keep us apart. But there were good signs too. And they were stronger omens than the bad ones. They are definitely pointing to the boyfriend and girlfriend direction. And it's not Friday anymore anyway. Its Saturday the Fourteenth! And I think that this is a very LUCKY Day!" Penny leaned in and kissed Leonard on the lips.

Leonard smiled when the kiss ended looking up into brightly shining green eyes and the most perfect smile. "Okay then, I'm in! There's just one thing."

Penny frowned. "What's that?"

Leonard sighed. "Someone has to tell Sheldon."

 **A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing. This was just supposed to be a short one or two chapter story, but as always, Penny and Leonard seem to take over and need to work things out a bit before they get it right. It is all but finished. Perhaps an epilogue to tie it all together.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Epilogue - The Circle of Life**

 **Penny and Leonard find themselves back to where it all started on their first date. One last time, I do not own these characters, it has just been my pleasure to bring them to you hopefully for your enjoyment in a tale from a place I call the Lenny Zone. Enjoy!**

Penny stood in front of the full length mirror of her bedroom smiling as she put on the second of her earrings. They were a small pair of snowflakes. Normally, she wore them in the winter months so not to confuse anyone. But today was all about anniversaries and special moments for her and Leonard and these earrings were so symbolic of her relationship. She paired them with her heart shaped locket necklace. Two special gifts from her husband at two very difficult times for her in their relationship. Stepping back, she smoothed the blue above-the-knee three quarter length sleeve dress and tried to decide if silver earrings and a gold necklace were really the look she wanted. "Screw it, If some pompous windbag page six columnist has anything to say, they're gonna get an earful from me." Penny was actually stunning in the form fitting dress. She remembered back to when she first wore it to a hospital so Howard could sing Bernadette a song he had written for his wife on one of their anniversaries. It may not fit perfectly right now, it took an extra tug or tuck here and there to get it just right but Leonard would never say those words to her. Before she left the room, Penny made up the bed. It was a sight! Things got a little out of control earlier this morning and then they lingered and enjoyed each other for a second time. She woke first and just couldn't help herself, she had been feeling particularly amorous these past few weeks. Leonard, of course had no complaints. Penny smiled as she thought of what was going to happen in a few hours, she had just a small part in this night's events. Penny recommended the venue, partially because of the date, but mostly because it was the place where she had fallen in love with her husband on that very first day they met. She knew it was a special place for them both, and tonight, she was going to make this place even more special for them.

* * *

Leonard stood at the breakfast counter in the kitchen sipping on a bottle of water and nibbling on a muffin, seemingly lost in thought. He was waiting for his wife to make her entrance so they could continue their day together.

Penny made her way down to the kitchen and stood silently in the doorway behind her husband. This was going to be HIS day. A day when he would get some long awaited recognition for all his hard work. She knew all to well the trials Leonard had gone through over the years. There were setbacks in experiments, having to live with Sheldon, two LONG scientific trips away from her when she barely made it through their time apart, and they had almost broken up because she was afraid things were moving too fast. Thankfully the thought of being without him had helped get them back together, she was terrified she might lose him forever to another woman. One of the happiest days of her life was when Leonard asked her out for one his usual romantic dates just as she was going to probably break up with him. After the usual incredibly romantic night and what followed in bed, she vowed to herself never to let him go ever again. It didn't matter that his mother thought he was not a high achieving academic or saw him as an overly sensitive personality. It didn't matter that Sheldon often said he was a sub-par scientist, to her he was perfect. He was so adorable just standing there, fiddling with his food, no doubt waiting for her to make her grand entrance.

This was one of those rare days when Leonard had taken the entire day off. After considering their extracurricular activities this past morning he was seriously considering working more of these impromptu days into his schedule to be home with Penny during the week. He had made sure all the little annoying things about work were taken care of and he was looking forward to spending the weekend with Penny.

Penny finally made her entrance just as Leonard placed a bottle of water out for her and slid the left over Chinese takeout from the night before to her. The look in his eyes as she came in the room was precious. They just lit up with love and he smiled that sweet contented smile that he saved just for her. Shivers shot right up her spine when he mouthed "WOW". Penny shyly looked down for just a second. She needed to lighten the moment or she was going to have to tear his clothes off and that would just set them back. "Thanks Sweetie." She looked over at his plate. "Hmmm, cranberry-orange. Just couldn't bring yourself to get the BANANA-nut muffins couldja?"

Leonard smirked. "You know very well that I stay away from anything banana on Friday the Thirteenth."

Penny giggled as she put a bite of muffin in her mouth. "Yeah, but I don't know why? It's not like you can just blink your eyes and POOF, all this never happened! Besides, who ever heard of slipping on a MUFFIN crumb?"

Leonard smiled. "Pedantic me just won't let it go, covering all the bases so to speak".

Penny's eyes went wide. "Oooooh a SPORTS metaphor! You didn't paint your stomach again didja?"

Leonard wiggled his eyebrows. "You'll just have to wait and see pretty lady".

Penny hummed giving him a wicked grin, she really enjoyed the playful banter they often engaged in. "Who would have thought that it was eleven years ago that I found your asthmatic ass on the ground outside our old apartment building?" She stepped close to her husband and put both hands on his chest. "You're looking very handsome today. Is this some kind of SPECIAL occasion?" She then leaned in for a tender quick kiss loving the way his hands almost magically found their way to her hips.

Leonard looked into those sparkling green eyes. "Well lets see? First, there's a gathering of pretty prominent Physicists. Something about some newfangled guidance system."

Penny put a finger to her mouth. "I hear they're gonna give the guy that came up with the idea some kinda prize or something".

Leonard nodded. "Plaque actually. I hear he is also up for a promotion of some kind. Gonna give a little talk too. Are you sure you're up for that? You know how you get at these things. Although Howard will be there, you could always fall asleep on his shoulder. Just like old times."

Penny slapped his shoulder. "Bernadette probably wouldn't like that all that much. Besides I got some sleep last night, I went to bed early in preparation."

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Yeah that's all true except you got up extra early this morning and then..."

Penny chuckled. "Never mind what happened this morning and I didn't hear you complaining. It was all good preparation. Let's leave it at that. Besides, I've heard of the guy being honored tonight. I went to some lunch and learn sci-ency talks at the University. He's VERY sexy."

Leonard laughed. "You know, there's actually a rumor going on around that you have been seen around the labs at lunch time and then some VERY questionable noises after the doors are locked. Do I have to be worried?"

Penny looked sympathetically back and gave her husband a side hug and a peck on the cheek. "Aw, not really, not after this morning and certainly not if you keep up with the internet thing".

Leonard smiled. "Okay then, we better get going."

* * *

Penny glanced over at her husband as he drove to the meeting. She smiled. After all this time, he still held the steering wheel firmly at ten and two. "Who decided that this shindig should be held all the way out in Santa Monica?"

Leonard shrugged. "I remember when you used to think this was just a short drive. Now you think its ALL the WAY out there? I'm just going where I was told. It IS a little coincidental that we're driving to Santa Monica on Friday the Thirteenth though. At the Lowes no less."

Penny took hold of Leonard's right hand with her left. "Do you remember that first time? How it felt?"

Leonard stroked Penny's ring finger, brushing his thumb across her engagement ring and wedding band. "If you mean the drive out here? I was terrified. I simply couldn't believe you wanted to continue that date... especially after what happened with Kurt." A wicked smile came across his face. "Now If you mean the sex..."

Penny rolled her eyes and nudged Leonard's shoulder. "The ride Leonard, the ride. First of all, it was BECAUSE of Kurt that we even came out here to begin with. If he didn't ruin our date at Rosalie's, we wouldn't have been at the beach and hit by the wave and then stayed in the Hotel... and... " Penny thought back to that first night losing herself in her thoughts. Suddenly she was brought back to the conversation by a curious look on Leonard's face. "And you shouldn't have been terrified to begin with. I asked you..., its not like I was gonna dump you."

Leonard smirked. "Well, the odds were clearly set against me, and I say that while taking into consideration a LARGE sample size. But, you didn't know what would have happened either. I read that stuff about Sagittarius women while we were AT the Italian restaurant, before the beach or the wave..."

Penny giggled. "You're right Romeo, I didn't know for sure what would have happened. You could have taken me under one of the elm trees by the duck pond."

Leonard looked over. "I have three words for you... men's rest room!"

Penny smiled thinking back. "Fair point".

* * *

It wasn't long before they arrived at the Lowes Hotel. Penny immediately took Leonard's hand and went around to the back of the Hotel before they checked in, over to the pool deck that looked out onto the sand and the Pacific Ocean. "It's still so Beautiful". She never lost her amazement for the ocean, even after being in California for so many years, it was just SO different from being back in Nebraska.

Leonard sat in a chair taking off his shoes, socks and rolling up his pants while Penny just stared out into the open water. "Yeah, well, it isn't exactly going anywhere any time soon." He then walked up beside her. "Give me your heels." Penny turned and smiled widely as she took off her shoes. Leonard placed them by the edge of the patio and took his wife's hand and stepped into the sand.

Penny immediately twisted her feet, burying herself up to her ankles in the warm sand. "I love you so much"! They then walked down near the shore making sure not to get close to the water. They had a meeting to go to and couldn't risk getting knocked over by a wave.

* * *

After a short walk, they returned to the Hotel and went up to the reservation desk. Leonard was holding their shoes in one hand and Penny in the other. Leonard thought the clerk looked vaguely familiar somehow. There were a few stares as the barefoot couple came up to the desk until one person said in not so silent a voice. "That's Penelope Hofstadter!"

Penny had considered using a stage name like "Penny Lane" when she started to get small parts in commercials and guest appearances on TV shows, but decided against it. She considered getting married to Leonard the best life decision she had ever made and she wanted the whole world to know how proud of him she was. Besides, Penelope Hofstadter was WAY more sophisticated than Penny Lane.

Suddenly there was a small commotion and a crowd started to gather. Penny had landed a leading part in a new sit-com on TV the year before and was now one of the hottest interviews in Hollywood. Her show was rated the number one new show for the last season and had just been renewed for three more. She was nominated for and won a People's Choice award for Leading Actress in a comedy, and this past weekend, Penny was featured in Parade Magazine giving an interview about the struggles of her young career and her home life, her animal activism, and being married to an up and coming scientific genius. Apparently her husband had made some world wide news with a development he came up with while working with Stephen Hawking. The scientific community was all abuzz. There was even talk of a Nobel Prize nomination for another of his projects.

While Penny signed some autographs, Leonard checked them into their room. He had specifically asked for the same room they had on their first trip together to Santa Monica when he was told this was the venue for the presentation. The Clerk handed Leonard a receipt to sign. "Dr. Hofstadter..., it is so nice to have you and Mrs. Hofstadter with us today."

Leonard noticed the name on the badge of the clerk. Yes, he was older, and decidedly heavier, but Leonard was almost positive it was the same clerk from their first visit. Leonard smiled seeing that the clerk was also coming to the same conclusion. "Yes it is." He then turned and tapped Penny on the shoulder. She signed one more autograph and then put her arm around Leonard's waist smiling at the clerk before they made their way to the elevator on their way up to their room.

* * *

Once in their room, Penny crossed to the balcony, opened the curtain and walked out. Leonard came up from behind her and put his hands on her hips. A chuckle easily came from her lips as she leaned back into him. "Easy there Lover, we'll have plenty of time for that later. Right now I need to freshen up and fix my makeup. I gotta look good for the crowd tonight. And my man".

Leonard put his head down on Penny's shoulder looking out to the ocean. "I would say the crowd will be VERY pleased to see you, judging from the small ruckus you caused in the lobby just now."

Penny turned her head and kissed him. "This night is not about me Sweetie, you have to remember that. But the staring and remarks WERE a lot different than they were that first time".

* * *

Hours later, Leonard closed the door to the room as Penny flopped down onto the bed. It was a long night with the scientific community letting it's hair down so to speak. The increased press coverage because of Penny just made things that much more interesting. Leonard came to the balcony and opened the curtains to let the view of the night sky into the room. Picking up a bottle from the coffee table in front of the pull out sofa, he smiled. "A bottle of Champagne from Raj. I'll bet he sent one to Howard and Sheldon too".

Penny sat up holding the plaque Leonard was presented. "Applied Physics Assistant Chair"... is that like a little kiddie chair off to the side in your Boss's office?"

Leonard laughed. "Very funny. With all the work the University has been getting because of the collaboration with the Hawking Group, NASA and the Military, there is too much work for Gabelhouser, so they made a sub division of the Physics Department and it comes with tenure. Sheldon was so pissed."

Penny smiled. "I'm very proud of you. It's nice that they are finally recognizing how really fantastic you are... and without having to "put out" to get any new equipment either. Don't think for a minute I didn't see Mrs. Latham in the crowd. And then that announcement about the official Nobel nomination with Howard and Sheldon for that perpetual guidance thingy... WOW"!

Leonard blushed. He never really knew just how to take a compliment. He had so little experience with them throughout his life, first with his mother and then living with Sheldon. "To be fair, it was Sheldon's math and Howard's proof of concept, so..."

Penny stood and put her arms around Leonard's neck. "Sweetie, without the actual concept, there would be no math for Sheldon and nothing for Howard to prove, so stop minimizing your accomplishments." She then kissed him passionately. When the kiss ended, she looked him in the eye. "But if you insist on giving credit and exposure away, it was Bernadette and me that wrapped those pipe thingies when you went to get more solder." A grin came across her face before she stuck out her tongue.

Leonard leaned her back onto the bed. "I think you have had quite enough exposure for the evening. I would say there were more media here tonight to get a glimpse at you than any of the stuffy old academics."

Penny giggled. "Yeah, I'd like to say I'm sorry about all that, but... nah!... I still get a bit of a charge out of it". She then sat up and turned her back to her husband. "Undo me?"

Leonard slid the zipper down Penny's back and she pulled her arms out of the sleeves. Leonard followed by unclasping his wife's bra only to watch her quickly shed the garment then grasp her own breasts and massage them. Penny sighed. "God. it feels so good to get out of that bra. You have no idea what we women have to put up with to look good for our men." She turned to see the goofiest look on Leonard as she sat there naked from the waist up. She rolled her eyes. "Really, Leonard?"

He smiled. "What? They're my breast friends! Can they come out and play?"

Penny stood up and shimmied out of her dress and went over to the closet pulling out two white plush robes and tossing one at Leonard. "Only if I get to play balls!" She then went into the bathroom.

* * *

Returning from her short respite from the playful banter with her husband after the banquet honoring the most thoughtful, caring, deserving man she knew, he was nowhere to be found. His CLOTHES were strewn about, but there was no Leonard. Remembering back to that fateful night years ago, Penny made her way to the balcony. To her delight, she found her lover looking out onto the dark ocean.

From their room, they could see the waning party down on the patio surrounding the pool. Leonard was the focus of the gathering with a short detour involving Howard and Sheldon, but to be sure, Penny was the STAR of the party. There were invading media types that were stealing Leonard's "science thunder" for the glitz and glamour of nearby TV Land or Hollywood. They would think nothing of hiding in trees or behind bushes to get compromising photos of any stars they could embarrass. There were even helicopters flying around. Unfortunately, Penny was the only one of those types they were interested in, driven by the need to get something they could peddle to the nearest paper or internet outlet. That's why they left the party when they did. Penny didn't want to ruin it for anyone else. Especially Howard, Sheldon and Leonard. Penny sighed. "I'm SO sorry".

Leonard moved to stand behind his wife and held her. "There's nothing to be sorry for. This is something we will have to deal with. You're a big deal now. You let Howard and Sheldon have their time, and I would want to be nowhere else but here with you." Penny turned to him and took his face between her hands and kissed him. Both their loosely tied robes opened and they stepped closer together, Penny lifting one shapely leg up to Leonard's hip just as camera flashes went off. Penny turned quickly as a helicopter passed by, flashes going off as it passed. It was just a few seconds before Penny found herself being pulled back into the room.

Penny quickly paced back and forth. "OH... NO...NO... no...no... This can't be happening."

Leonard tried to calm her. "Penny, don't get all worked up over it. They probably didn't get anything they can use. And even if they did, you're a married woman and you were here with ME... your husband. There are plenty of witnesses and pictures all night that prove just that. None of them show any problems between us, in fact, there were probably a few that weren't all that much worse than what they just shot. The most they got is a shot of a very sexy woman caught in an embrace with her husband. Besides, if anything, this will just pique the interest of your fans and probably bring more interest and exposure for your show. This was well within the parameters of your character's persona. And you DID imply that we had an active extracurricular life at home in that interview."

Penny stood staring at her husband with a confused look on her face. "All I said was that we wanted kids... sometime in the future..."

Leonard shrugged "There is still only one way to get to that end". He then walked over to the bed and dropped his robe. Penny looked on with wide eyes. Leonard smiled. "What? I'm not going to sleep in that robe and neither are you, so come to bed". He then crawled under the covers and patted the mattress next to him.

Penny looked at Leonard and threw her hands into the air. "What the HELL, I have one last surprise for ya though. I was waiting for a special moment, so this will just have to do." Penny dropped her robe and got under the covers with her husband. She got the same shiver of anticipation at getting closer to him as she did all those years before. After tonight, things would never be the same again. But instead of worrying about the future, she was full of hope and excitement.

Leonard looked at her expectantly. "A surprise?" Penny leaned in and whispered into his ear. Leonard's eyes went absolutely wide with white showing completely around. He had the biggest smile as he pulled her in for a hug. "Are you sure?"

Penny giggled uncontrollably. "Yeah, that's why that dress was so tight. Haven't you noticed a little extra in the boobage area? You certainly spend enough time there. Maybe that kiddie assistant chair should go in YOUR office instead." She looked into Leonard's eyes. "So mister big shot Scientist. What do you want to do now? I'll bet there's a channel showing The Lord of the Rings or something"

Penny giggled as Leonard leaned over and passionately kissed his wife gently fondling the left side of her chest and intertwining their legs. He then moved to find that sensitive spot on her neck below her left ear. She sighed as she closed her eyes taking in the experience. "Yeah, that's what I thought".

 **A/N: There you have it. What started out as an ominous day, with all the bad signs of Friday the Thirteenth, turned into the LUCKIEST day of their lives. This was a really fun chapter to write. I tried to get across just how comfortable they really are between each other. It may come across as cutting remarks sometimes, but there is really nothing but playful banter and love at the center of their relationship. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.**


End file.
